Uncle' Loki
by mrs.aniskywalker
Summary: Steve Rogers often wondered, why of of all the six year old girls on the planet, Loki had to get attached to his?
1. Chapter 1 : Beginnings

**Hi everyone! Well, this is just something that's been running around in my head. And as I'm getting nowhere with my other fics I figured I'd better write something so I don't fall out of the habit. So, here this is. I own nothing, except Ryan and Steve's wife, (unless you imagine her as Black Widow, I left it open for you guys.) Well enjoy, and please feel free to review!**

Steve Rogers had seen plenty of strange and unexplainable things in his life. He himself was rather unexplainable. However, no matter how many aliens he fought, how many super powered criminals he brought to justice, he just could not picture anything more strange and unexplainable then the scene before him.

His six year old daughter Ryan was currently poking at a motionless Loki, who was sprawled on the ground of his backyard, with a wooden sword. A bucket on her head served as a helmet, and an old trash can lid gripped in her other hand acting as a shield.

"Ha! This is your end villiam! Good will always triumph!" "It's _villain_ dear." Steve's wife called out from her seat on the porch. "Mom!" Ryan cried out indignantly, "You're ruining the moment!"

"Indeed" Loki joined in, turning his head to glance at the woman. "The dramatic affect is much spoiled." Ryan poked him again with her sword, a little harder, "Shhh! You're supposed to be dead!"

Loki raised his hands apologetically and returned to his original pose. Steve took this moment to announce his presence with a cough. Ryan's head whipped around, the bucket helmet falling down over her eyes. "Daddy!" She cried, running towards him, a huge grin lighting up her face. Steve returned the smile and scooped her up into a hug. "Hey princess, how's your day been?"

"Great! Uncle Loki gave me this sword and let me kill him with it!" "Five times." Steve's wife added with a smile as she sidled up to kiss her husband. "Really?" Steve asked with a forced smile. He placed his daughter back on the ground and gave her pat on the back towards Loki, "Go make it an even six."

Ryan beamed and saluted her father before running back to her victim. Steve turned to his wife, smile gone, and asked in a harsh whisper, "I thought we agreed no more weapon presents from 'Uncle Loki'?" "You want to find some way to keep a shape-shifting, teleporting, alien prince from giving stuff to your daughter, you figure it out. I have a hard enough time making sure they behave themself while he's here."

Steve rolled his eyes and glared at the god of mischief currently faking death on his lawn for the sixth time that day. As he watched his daughter squeal with laughter as the man gave an overly dramatic performance of being stabbed, wooden sword stuck between his chest and left arm; Steve thought back to the first day Loki had begun wriggling into his family's life.

III

Ryan was only a few months old, and had been decidedly against the concept of a good night's sleep since day one. It was two in the morning, and Ryan had been making a ruckus fit to raise the dead. Giving his poor exhausted wife a break, Steve had gotten up to check on the baby, and walking into her room had gotten the second biggest shock of his life since the day he had woken up in the SHEILD headquarters.

_Loki _was sitting in their rocking chair holding a sniffling Ryan in his arms, making soft shushing sounds as he rocked back and forth. He looked up at Steve standing frozen in the door way, and held up a finger to his lips, "Shh, I've almost got her asleep again." Steve stared blankly at the scene in shock for another long moment, before finally regaining enough sense to open his mouth.

"What on _earth _are you-" "_Shh!_" Loki repeated more forcefully. He gave Steve a stern look, and Steve closed his mouth back up again. Loki turned back to the baby, and gave her a look of affection that Steve had never even imagined could cross his face. Still in shock, he gave a small cough to clear his throat, and asked again in a quieter voice, "Um… what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was passing by, in the neighborhood and thought it might be diverting to…pay you a visit." Loki responded with a careless shrug, his smug tone indicating it would have been a very unpleasant visit indeed. "I'd just let myself in when I heard your lovely offspring wake up and…here I am."

He smiled again at the baby who was now fast asleep in his arms, sucking her thumb with one hand and clutching one of his fingers with the other. "I must say Rogers she_ is_ quite charming, good job."

"Um…thanks." Steve finally replied, sitting down on the cedar chest on the opposite side of the room. "No really, she's perfect. What did you name her?" He turned to Steve suddenly with a wry smile, "Will I blush?"

It took Steve a moment to work out just exactly what the man meant, and when he did he felt his face grow hot with irritation. "_No! _We didn't name her _Loki!_" He managed to sputter, "Her name's Ryan."

Loki raised an eyebrow, "Ryan? Forgive me if I'm mistaken but… isn't that name usually reserved for male Midgardian children?" Steve gave a helpless shrug, "The wife wanted something modern. I wasn't exactly inclined to argue with her after all the trouble she went through."

Loki nodded as though he understood perfectly, "Indeed, in such times tis usually best to let the women have their way. Heaven knows I've had to agree to several names that-" He broke off when he noticed Steve staring at him. This time it was Loki's turn to cough.

"Well, I… suppose I should be on my way." He stood up from the rocking chair and handed Ryan to a startled Steve, being careful not to wake her in the transfer. He stroked the child's head with his thumb one last time as he did so, a wistful smile crossing his face. Then with a swirl of his trench coat he turned to go.

Just before he did so, he looked back over his shoulder at Steve, and grinned. "Truly exceptional work Rogers, I may just have to _steal_ her from you someday." And before Steve could even cry out in protest, he'd disappeared.

III

As things had turned out, Loki had not stolen Ryan. What he had done however was slowly but surely integrate himself into the Roger's family by stealing her heart. He had shown up at every birthday since, always bearing presents of some sort or another designed to delight the girl and inspire her to all sorts of mischief. He had been present at every major milestone, from her first steps to her first bike. He had appeared on every holiday imaginable, even some Steve had never _heard_ of and was quite sure he'd had made up just to have an excuse too literally 'pop in'.

Steve would never have guessed from his previous and sometimes current (though decidedly less frequent) bouts with Loki on the battle field that he could be so good with children, especially young girls. But he was, and Ryan _adored_ him.

This, besides the fact it was near impossible to stop him from just appearing on their doorstep, was the biggest factor in letting Loki stay around. Indeed, Steve and his wife had long ago given up hope of every finding a way to permanently stop Loki's visits. Their fridge was covered in Ryan's drawings of him, their photo albums stuffed with pictures he'd managed to sneak himself into. (Steve also suspected he was stealing photos of Ryan to take back home.)

Somehow or other, wither the two elder Rogers liked it or not, he'd become part of the family.

None of the other Avengers could fathom why on earth Steve was letting such a dangerous and obviously deranged criminal practically help raise his daughter. Loki couldn't actually care about the kid, he was obviously using her as part of some nefarious scheme that would surely bring ruin on them all in the end.

"I'm telling you man," Tony had told him once, "One day you're gonna wake up and see her dressed as like, _mini-Loki_ or something and trying to take over the world!" Steve had been to embarrassed to inform Tony that she had actually begged for just such a costume for that year's Halloween. Even Thor had seemed dubious of his brother's intentions. (Though he may have just been smarting over Loki's recent remark that' maybe if Thor did his duty as future king and actually _settled down_ and gave Loki some nieces and nephews he'd actually have a reason to spend more time with Thor.)

Actually, there was one very good reason that Steve let Loki lavish affection on Ryan. He… felt sorry for him. Soon after their first encounter, way back when Loki was unleashing aliens from the sky upon New York, Steve had begun researching the maniac who'd threatened this new future world of his.

He had not liked what he'd found. He was unsure of how much of the myths he'd read were true, and how much where just fantasy, he'd never bothered to ask. But after reading what he had, and gathering some of the more recent events of Loki's life from Thor… well he felt he had a much better understanding of the man, of why he did what he did. He didn't excuse his behavior, but… he could understand where Loki was coming from.

He also thought he understood just why Loki was so drawn to his daughter. He saw her as a new chance. A chance for him to _finally_ raise a child that wouldn't be taken from him and locked away or… worse. He saw Ryan as the only shot for real happiness he had left.

Steve may not have liked Loki, but… he didn't hate him. He knew what it was like to have your world ripped out from under you, to have everything you knew and loved suddenly disappear in the blink of an eye. And he knew what it was like to finally find something to hold onto, something to bring you back from the edge of hopelessness, something to love.

If that was what Ryan was for Loki, well… Steve was willing to share.

But he was still going to have word's with him about that sword.


	2. Chapter 2 : Baking and Banner

**Hey everybody! So I've been wanting to write more about Ryan and 'Uncle Loki' so…I did! It's just a quick little thing that I whipped up, but I hope you like it! If you want more, feel free to leave some suggestions. As always, I own nothing, (or this would totally be canon.)**

Steve and his wife looked out in blank shock at the scene before them. A large fire truck and several police cars were parked outside their house, lights and sirens blaring. Several officers were occupied on wrapping yellow police tape around the outside of the building. Huge amounts of a lumpy yellow and brown specked substance were pouring from the windows and doors, covering the yard, apparently having already filled the entire inside of the house. The

"Don't worry folks!" an officer with a bullhorn was calling up to a group of people that seemed to be stuck on the roof. "Well have you down in a jiffy! We just need to find a way through all this… stuff…"

"Ooh! Call in a helicopter!" a young girl's voice called down. "Yeah! A helicopter!" another girl's voice chimed in. "Heli-Copter! Heli-Copter! Heli-Copter!" the voices chanted together in obvious glee.

The Rogers glanced at each other, grimacing. "I told you we should have waited till Pepper could babysit to go out." Steve's wife said, looking on as a pair of policeman struggled and fell face forward into the goop. "I know…"

Six Hours Earlier…

"Ok, so we'll be gone for awhile, but you know our cell phone number so if you have any problems-"

"I have your permission to whisk your lovely daughter off to the safety of Asgard until such crises as arise have been resolved?"

Steve's eyes narrowed. "No." "Ooh," Loki pouted. "Rogers you never let the girl have any fun." "You mean I never let you _kidnap_ her and turn her into your little ice princess. No means no."

Loki shrugged carelessly, and flopped down onto the couch next to Ryan. Steve rolled his eyes before turning to his daughter. "Now Ryan, you be good for Uncle Loki while Mommy and Daddy are gone ok?" "Ok Daddy!" Ryan replied, reaching up from her seat to hug her father. "Thanks sweetie." He smile and pecked her on the head.

"And Uncle Loki will be good while we're gone too, won't he?" Mrs. Rogers asked as she walked into the room. "My dear lady," the man replied with a smile, "I never make promises I, and _you_, know I can't keep."

Mrs. Rogers rolled her eyes, kissed her daughter, and linking arms with her husband walked out the door.

Loki shook his head at the departing couple, and turned to grin at Ryan. "Ready to make some mischief my princess?" Ryan raised a hand in salute. "Sir yes Sir!" Loki's grin widened, "Then let's begin!"

III

Loki and Ryan were in middle of their third round of ultimate hackysack when the doorbell rang. "Uncle Loki you get it!" Ryan exclaimed as she bounced the hackysack up and down on her ankle. "Oh no, I know that ploy! I stop bouncing to get the door and you win!" "Yup!" Ryan replied with a smile. Loki smiled back, "I'm afraid my dear that that is not going to happen!"

The doorbell rang again, and the pair looked at each other, daring the other to answer it. Ryan shook her head, and Loki shook his. Now a series of loud knocks joined in with the ringing. They looked at eachother again.

"Alright…" Loki said, glancing down at the girl, "What if we both stop at the same time, and pick this up later?" Ryan thought for moment, bobbing up and down as she bounced the sack. "Hmmm…Ok. On three." "Alright then, One…Two…Three!"

Loki stopped bouncing his sack. Ryan didn't. "Now that's cheating!" Loki exclaimed in a shocked tone. Ryan grinned, "I know!" The man shook his head, "I've trained you well."

"Are you people ever going to open the door!" a small yet demanding voice called out from the other side of the door. Raising an eyebrow at Ryan, Loki walked over and opened the door. His smile fell.

"Ah, it's you."

The girl who stood on the porch had short dark hair, and bright blue eyes. She was wearing t-shirt with a decal of Iron Man's arc reactor and the sort of expensive jeans that were made to look like they'd been through a paper shredder. She had her hands on her hips and an annoyed expression on her face that almost matched Loki's.

"Miss. Potts-Stark." He announced in a mocking tone.

"Mr. Odinson." She replied in an equally mocking one.

Loki rolled his eyes, and turned his attention to the man standing behind the girl. His face fell even further. "_Banner_."

Bruce Banner raised a hand. " Hey…" He looked down at Ryan who had appeared between Loki's legs. "Hi kid." She smiled at the man, "Hi Mr. Bruce!" She turned to look at the girl and her smile broadened. "Hi Ria!"

Maria 'Ria' Potts-Stark smiled back. "Hi Ryan!" "You wanna come in and play?" "Ok!" The two six year olds raced into the house, giggling. The two men remained outside, wrapped up in their glaring contest.

It was Loki who finally broke the silence. "Any…particular reason…_you_ and…_she_ have dropped by?" Bruce rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, obviously as uncomfortable as Loki was at the current situation. "Well… Tony and Pepper had to fly off to some business meeting today, and I was supposed to watch Ria…but I guess I didn't watch her well enough and…"

His mouth came down over his mouth as he mumbled the last part. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Loki asked, raising a hand to his ear. Bruce rocked back and forth, and mumbled again. "What?"

Bruce rolled his eyes, and finally spit it out. "She hacked into the S.H.E.I.L.D database and changed Nick Fury's desktop to a picture of a fluffy kitten wearing an eye patch."

Loki stared at the man, and then burst out in hysterical laughter. "It's not funny!" Bruce cried, trying to be heard over Loki's chuckling. "She's been labeled one of S.H.E.I.L.D's top ten security threats!" Loki's laughter doubled, and Bruce's frown deepened. "Anyway, I thought I better find some sort of way to distract her from computers-"

"So you brought her here?" Loki asked, finally calming down. "Does the great Tony Stark know you've brought his precious daughter into the same house as the man who threw him out of a window?"

Bruce shook his head, "No, and if you promise not to make any trouble… I won't either." Loki snorted, "You wouldn't do anything around the girls." "I can't always control what happens." "You will if you know what's good for you."

Bruce grinned, "Is that a threat? Because as I recall, the last time we got into an argument… it didn't turn out so well for you." Loki glared at the man, and was about to say something more when Ryan popped her head out of the door.

"Uncle Loki? Ria wants to know if you two are done arguing so you can help us have a pillow fight."

Loki raised an eyebrow, and turned to look at Bruce. "… I don't suppose you care to settle this inside?" Bruce looked over Loki's shoulder into the house, where Ria was busy stalking couch cushions into a fort. "I'm game if you are."

III

"Fire!" A barrage of pillows flew across the living room, striking the sides of chair and couch cushion barricades erected on either side. "Surrender!" Ria cried out from behind her cushion. "Never!" Ryan exclaimed, fending off a pillow with her garbage lid shield. "Captain America never surrenders!"

"Aye! And neither does Loki!" Loki threw a pillow over the chair, hitting a too slow Bruce in the face. "Well _Iron Man_ doesn't give up!" Ria launched another pillow into the air, and it slammed into Loki.

"Oh that's it!" Ryan jumped over the cushions and launched herself at Ria, who squealed as her friend tackled her, sending her down on top of Bruce. A tickle fight ensued on top of the man, who tried in vain to get up. Loki shook his head, and smiled.

"Can I get a little help?" Bruce asked, voice muffled by the floor and strewn pillows. "No." "You're a cruel man."

Eventually the girls tired out, and Bruce was able to escape from under them. "Uncle Loki…" Ryan murmured from the pillow she was lying on. " I'm hungry." "Me too." Ria chimed in. Bruce sat up, trying to smooth his hair back into place. "I guess we could make you kids some-"

"Cookies!" The girls interrupted, faces lighting up in anticipation. "Indeed! An excellent choice!" declared Loki as he rose from the cushion fort. "Cookies it is!" "YAY!"

III

"Alright, so, this batch will make about a dozen cookies, so…we'll each get three." "Three?" The girls whined. Bruce shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry girls, that's all we've got." Ryan's face fell, "Aww… but that's so little…"

Loki looked down at her sad face, and suddenly a had an idea. "Stand aside Banner, I know how to fix this." He waved his hand over the bowl of cookie dough, concentrating. "What are you doing?" Bruce asked in annoyance. "Shush! This spell takes great concentration! I need to focus on multiplying the atoms in the right amount, if I get distracted it could-"

"Boil over?" Ria asked. "Exactly." "No I mean it's boiling over!"

Loki looked down in surprise. The cookie dough was flowing out of the bowl at an alarming rate, spilling over the counter and onto the floor. "Agh!" Loki whirled around on Bruce. "Banner! I told you not to distract me!" "Well I'm sorry! I didn't think that a grown man who could blow up half of New York with an alien army would be so easily distracted over cookie dough!"

The dough continued to spread even faster across the kitchen, rising until it reached the men's ankles. They lifted the girls up and began trying to wade out of the room. "Can't you turn it off?" Bruce cried in alarm as the dough shot up to his thighs. "Well maybe if I wasn't _distracted_ by a cookie dough flood!"

"Can we eat it?" Ria asked, bending over Bruce's shoulder to try and reach the rising mass. "No!" Bruce exclaimed, pulling her back upright. "You'll get salmonella!" Loki raised an eyebrow, "That's not true!" Bruce turned to glare at the man. "_Yes_, it is!" "_No_, it isn't!" "Um, excuse me, I'm a doctor. _Yes it is_."

"Hey it's got me!" Loki looked down, saw that the dough had risen to his chest and had enveloped the lower half of Ryan's legs. He hoisted her onto his shoulders and looked around at the house. Cookie dough was pressing up against the doors and windows, straining to get out. He needed to think of something fast before they ended up encased in it.

"Alright, we need to find some way out of the house… Banner, do you think you could break us out if-" "No." Bruce declared in a firm tone. "Not around the girls." Despite their predicament, Loki grinned. "I knew you were bluffing."

Bruce rolled his eyes, and in doing so caught sight of the attic door in the roof of the living room. "Hey…I got think I got an idea…"

Five minutes later the group had pushed through to underneath the door, and Loki had managed to climb up onto Bruce's shoulders, balancing the girls on his.

"Alright now Princess, reach up and grab the string!" "I'm trying Uncle Loki!" Ryan strained, trying to grasp at the dangling string. " You're too short! Let me try!" Ria twisted around, scrambling up onto Loki's head.

"Ow, that's my hair Miss Potts-Stark, not a climbing rope!" "Well maybe if you didn't have long girly hair it wouldn't hurt so much!" Loki heard Bruce snort underneath him, and was tempted to kick the man, but thought better of it.

"I got it!" Ria cried, grapping the string and pulling down sharply. The door opened and the ladder dropped down, barely missing the group. Loki hoisted the girls up onto it and then began climbing it himself, Bruce following after, the cookie dough quickly following them.

They reached the attic just as the cookie dough reached to top of the ladder. "Alright... now what?" Loki asked as they watched the dough begin to creep into the attic. Bruce shook his head, "Don't look at me, I got us up here. You come up with something."

Loki looked around the attic. There were a couple of old boxes, a skylight, and a whole lot of dust…. A skylight! He picked Ryan up and made his way towards it. "Come on Banner, onwards and upwards!"

III

Loki had managed to break through the glass, his tougher then human skin barely scratched by it. He and Bruce pushed the girls through the hole then pulled themselves up. They crawled over the shingles and looked down as the cookie dough spilled out of busted windows.

By now a sizable crowed had gathered around the house, and Loki noticed with amusement that many of the mortals had already whipped out their cell phones to record the event. He wondered what Midgaurdians did before the invention of the internet.

He sat down next to Ryan, and ran his fingers thru his hair. Well, at least things couldn't get any worse. "Uncle Loki?" Ryan asked, tugging at his sleeve. "Yes Princess?" "When are Mommy and Daddy gonna be back?"

III

Now…

Steve climbed up the fire truck ladder, trying to ignore the flashes of cameras and video phones. "Hi Daddy!" Ryan called out, waving at him. "_Hi_ sweetheart!" He said behind a smile of gritted teeth. "Uncle Loki and Mr. Bruce made us cookies!"

"I can see that!" He swung his head to 'grin'/glare at Loki, who wiggled his fingers at Steve with a sheepish grin. Steve then turned to Bruce, "You're in on this too?" Bruce gave a helpless shrug. Steve shook his head in his best, "I am so disappointed in you", look, and reached out for his daughter.

A whirring sound suddenly began over head. Steve turned to look for the source of the noise, and heard Bruce groan. "Look Uncle Bruce it's Daddy!" Ria cried out happily. "Hi Dad!" Bruce groaned again, louder.

Steve heard the people below him gasp in awe and surprise as Iron Man descended to float a foot above his roof. "What the heck is going here?" He called out, voice echoing thru his mask's vocal filter. "Pepper and I fly to Cali for six hours and I come home to find my daughter on the nine o'clock news stranded on some suburban rooftop with…_him_?" He pointed an accusing finger at Loki.

"Nice to see you too Stark." "Shut Up!" Tony turned to his daughter, "Ria, come here! We're going home!" Ria's eye's widened. "You mean you're gonna _fly_ me home with the suit?" Steve heard Tony give an exasperated sigh. "Well as it seems to be the fastest way out of this suburban deathtrap…yes." Ria beamed and turned around to give Ryan a quick hug goodbye. "Bye Ryan! Thanks for a great day!"

Then she ran over and leapt into her father's arms. "This is so much cooler then a helicopter!" "Hey! What about me?" Bruce asked, leaping up in alarm. "You can't just leave me here!" "Apparently I can't leave you with my daughter either!" "Ah come on Tony I-"

Steve shook his head, ignoring the argument. "Come on Ryan, let's get you down." Ryan crawled across the tiles until she reached Steve. He scooped her up with one arm and began climbing back down the ladder, Loki following behind. Ryan chattering on as they descended.

"And then I tricked Uncle Loki into opening the door! And then we had a pillow fight with Ria and Mr. Bruce and I was you and Ria was her daddy and-" Steve leapt onto the ground, cutting off his daughters sentence. The crowd of his neighbors and curious onlookers cheered, and he saw his wife elbowing her way thru the crowd.

"Mommy!" Ryan leapt from her father's arms into her mothers, "We made cookies." "Well technically we only got to cookie dough before-" Loki stopped talking when he saw Mrs. Rogers face. "Well…before Banner distracted me!" He called up to the roof, where Bruce and Tony were still arguing and Ria was complaining that she wanted to fly.

Mrs. Rogers eyes narrowed into slits. "And just _what_ exactly do you expect us to do with Ryan tonight? Her bed is buried under twelve feet of cookie dough! _Our_ bed is buried under twelve feet of cookie dough!"

Loki began to come up with an excuse, but then he stopped. Steve noticed his eyes had that dangerous shine in them that they always got when he came up with a particularly maddening idea.

"You could…let her stay with me until they fix up your house…"

"_No_!"


	3. Chapter 3 : Steve's Swingset Shenanigans

**Hey guys! So here's a new chapter of Uncle Loki for you! There actually isn't that much Loki in this chapter, but I wanted to flesh out Ryan's character more. Also, I know I said back in chapter one that you could imagine Steve's wife as Black Widow…but…well now you can't. Fan girl 666 asked for a chapter with all the Avengkids, and I decided to work up to it. But I couldn't do that with Widow and Hawkeye floating around in the sea of uncertain shipping. So I shipped them, so…here you go. I hope you like it! As always, I own nothing!**

Steve Rogers was a patient man; Heaven knows he'd had to be after having been stuck as a 'Capsicle' for over seventy years. But Heaven also knew that if he had to listen to one more argument over if Scarlett should end up with Duke or Snake Eyes…he was going to _lose it_.

"Snake Eyes is totally better then Duke! He's a _Ninja_ for Pete's sakes!"

"Well at least _Duke_ can hold a conversation! And in over _six _languages!"

"I repeat, NINJA! All other arguments are invalid!"

"OK!" Steve clapped his hands together, drowning out the argument. "I think it is time to move on to a new topic of conversation! Now, is there anything you two can talk about that will not lead to another half hour argument?"

Ria and Ryan looked at each other, then back to Steve. "No."

He sat down with a shuddering sigh. The girls were usually the best of friends, but today they had been at each other's throats almost since Ria walked in the door. He wondered if all children argued this much as eight years old, or just those raised by superheroes. Either way, he wanted it to stop.

"Ok, is there anything we can _do_ that will not result in another half hour argument?"

The girls looked at each other again, and this time a pair of mischievous smiles turned back to face him.

"Can we make cookies?"

"NO!"

Cookie making at the Rogers home had been strictly prohibited since the incident two years ago. Cookies either had to be bought at the store or made at someone else's home before being brought onto the premises. It had only taken Loki a few minutes to revert their house to normal, but Steve swore on hot summer days you could still smell the chocolate chips.

Ryan looked up at her father in exasperation. "Daddy there's nothing to do!" She sighed and flopped onto her back on the couch. "I wish Uncle Loki was done with his meeting!"

Steve rolled his eyes, not having the energy (or the heart) to explain that a disciplinary hearing with Nick Fury was not exactly a meeting. The man had certainly toned down his machinations in the past few years, but it seemed that he'd gotten bored this weekend and decided it would be extremely amusing to make all the gas station dinosaur statues come to life. Apparently S.H.E.I.L.D had a different sense of the word '_amusing_'.

Ria flopped down next to Ryan and heaved a sigh. "This is soooo boring. We've done everything there is to do in this house!"

"Well I'm sorry." Steve groaned, rubbing a hand over his aching forehead. "Not all of us can live in fifty story skyscrapers that make Santa's workshop look like a thrift store."

"Ninety five stories. And Daddy said you were all welcome to come and live there."

"Yeah, because I can't think of anything better than twenty four hour Tony Stark." Came the mumbled reply.

Steve looked through his fingers at the girls, there had to be something they could do. If they'd already everything to do in the house…

Steve shot up from the couch, clapping his hands together once more. The girls looked up, surprised at the noise. "Alright troops! Let's pack up our gear, we're going to the park!"

"YAAAY!"

III

Steve could feel his eye twitching as they drove. He swore the park had never been this far before. The girls had managed to finally reach a compromise over the Scarlett issue, and had decided to celebrate by singing their favorite song. Every-single-verse.

"The U.S. Army had a team! G-I-G-I Joe! And on that team they had a Snake-Eyes! G-I-G-I Joe! With a … here! And a … there! Here a…, There a…, Everywhere a…! The U.S. Army had a team! G-I-G-I Jo_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_!"

The girl's song was caught off as Steve spun the car wildly into the parking lot of the park.

"Oh look! We're here! Everybody out!"

The girl's shrieked with glee, causing Steve to flinch from the pain in his head. They quickly unbuckled themselves and shot out the car doors onto the blacktop.

"I call dips on the good swing!"

"Not if I get there first!"

Steve's head dropped to the steering wheel, and he heaved a sigh of relief. With his wife out of town on a girl's trip and no Loki to babysit for the past few days, he hadn't been able to get a lot of sleep. He closed his eyes, he'd only rest them a few seconds. The girls would be fine, it was a park. How much trouble could they get in?

III

A pair of sharp, grey-blue eyes peeked out from the bushes in which their owner hid. They surveyed the playground, watching as children ran and shrieked about; climbing up (and sometimes falling off) the jungle gym, sliding down the slides and getting sick on the mini-merry-go-round.

The eyes strayed to two children in particular. A pair of girls was fighting over the infamous "good swing." The dark haired girl in the rocker t-shirt would pull it one way, then the cute—er, the blonde one with a t-shirt with 'Army Brat' on it would pull it the other way. The eyes followed.

"I get the swing this time Ria, you had it last time!"

"So?! I got here first! It's not my fault you're so slow!"

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Well you wait till I hit my growth spurt! Then you'll see!"

"Ha! _You_? The only way you'd have a growth spurt is if they shot _you_ up with super-steroids too!"

The blonde girl's face went red, and she shook the chain of the swings before letting go with an angry growl. "Yeah well…_your face is dumb_!"

She stomped off towards the bush the eyes were hiding in, angry tears welling up in hers. The eyes ducked down to avoid being seen, but it wasn't necessary. The girl rushed right past him and into the wooded area of the park, too caught up in her rage to notice anything. The other girl stuck her tongue out at her retreating back, and turned to swing the other way.

The eyebrows above the eyes raised. This could get interesting.

III

Ryan wandered over to the foot bridge in the middle of the park woods, kicking at stones and fallen pinecones.

Stupid Ria! Why did _she_ always have to be right? Why did _she_ always have to get her way? She was just jealous, that was it! Jealous that her daddy had to fly around in a hyped-up tin can to fight crime! So Ryan wasn't fast or strong like her daddy, or super smart like Ria…that didn't mean Ria was better than her…did it?

She plunked down on the bridge, dangling her legs over the water. She sniffled, and rubbed at her wet eyes. Looking down at her reflection, she frowned. The girl who looked back at her was scrawny and bleary-eyed, and not very remarkable. She grabbed a pine cone and chucked it at her reflection, breaking it up.

She lay back on the foot bridge, looking up at the trees and the blue sky peeking through them. She sighed, closed her eyes… and then shot them open again.

A _thing_ was moving in the branches above her! A _big_ thing! Way too big to be a squirrel, or even a cat. Fear lurched through her as she remembered all her Uncle Loki's stories about princesses alone in the woods who got captured by dragons or bandits or—

The thing moved down a branch, and then suddenly _dropped down_, splashing head first into the water!

Ryan shrieked and leapt back in terror. She wished her parents were here, she wished her Uncle Loki was here, she even wished _Ria_ was here! She wished she'd brought her wooden sword from home to smash the things head in with if it tried to come within five feet of her.

A coughing, sputtering noise came from the water where the thing had landed. It was alive! Ryan turned to run, and then stopped. Her daddy wouldn't run, neither would Uncle Loki or Ria. And neither would she! After all, she was Ryan Margaret Rogers, and she would prove she was just as good as dumb old Ria!

She looked around, and grabbed a large stick that was lying near the bridge. She weighed it in her hand, then swung it over her shoulder like a baseball bat. Slowly, cautiously, she made her way back towards the edge of the bridge.

"Ok, w-who or…_what_ever you are! You better not try anything, because I've got a…spear! And I'm not afraid to use it! So you better leave me alone or-"

She peeked over the side of the bridge, and her mouth dropped open. A young boy about her age was sitting in the river, rubbing his head of dark red-brown hair where he'd hit it after falling from the tree. He looked up at her, and gave a sheepish grin.

"Hi Ryan."

Ryan scowled down at him, fists on her hips. "_Couler Romanov-Barton you almost scared me to death_!"

His sheepish grin widened, and lost some of its sheepishness. Ryan's scowl deepened in response.

"Couler have you been spying on me?! And don't you lie! I know how to tell if you are, believe me!"

The boy, Couler, shrugged. "Maybe... but only cuz I didn't want you to get lost in the woods!"

"Couler, the woods is like this big!" Ryan held her hands about a half a foot apart. "A _bug_ couldn't get lost in them."

"Well, yeah maybe…" He looked up at her, his grey-blue eyes meeting her bright blue ones, and his smile returned. "But the _bad guys _aren't after _bugs_!"

Ryan blinked. "Bad guys?"

"Oh sure," Couler assured her as he climbed up the bank and onto the bridge, dripping water as he went. "The parks full of them! They're the Sheriff of Nottingham's men, and they want to lock me up in a dungeon! I'm Robin Hood!"

He struck pose as he said this last bit, trying for all his wet, mud and twig covered might to look heroic.

Ryan giggled, and shook her head. "If you're Robin Hood, then where's your bow?"

Couler's smile fell, and he rolled his eyes. "Dad took it away. He said I'm only supposed to use it to shoot bad guys, and my teacher doesn't count. Nobody told me it wasn't ok to bring weapons for show and tell!"

Ryan giggled again, her sides shaking with laughter. "Oh Couler, you're so silly!"

Couler's smile returned, lighting up his face. "Hey, do you wanna be Maid Marian? I could tie you to a tree and then come rescue you!"

Ryan thought about it for a moment, and then shook her head. "I've got a better idea." She picked up her stick, and stood up. "Why don't we go rob a swing from the rich to give to the poor?"

Couler's eyes sparkled. He ran his fingers through his wet hair, slicking it back. "Baby, I like how you think."

III

Ria pumped her legs, rising up over the playground, then falling back down again. She tried to keep her mind on other things, to swing the empty feeling in her stomach away, but it was no good.

She felt _awful_. She shouldn't have said those things to Ryan. She didn't even know what steroids were! She'd just heard her Daddy say them when he and Uncle Steve were having one of their arguments.

Was it really such a big deal to go second once and awhile? As much as she liked to win, she liked her friend more.

"_Sigh_…I guess I should go…_glup… apologize._"

With a shudder at the prospect, she prepared to jump off the swing and go look for her friend. However, just as she was about to leap, a cry behind her caught her attention. She turned to look, and her mouth fell open.

Ryan was standing on the bottom end of one of the teeter totters, crouched as though poised to spring. Behind her on the top of the twisty slide stood Couler Romanov-Barton, a wide, slightly crazed smile on his face.

With a cry of "For Justice!" he _leapt_ from the _top_ of the slide onto the raised end of the teeter totter, slamming it down with his weight. Ryan was launched into the air, screaming with a mix of terror and triumph. She sailed towards Ria, who's swing had just reached it's highest point. Ria's scream joined with the others as she braced for the impact-

III

It was the screams, as well as the fact his forehead and fallen onto the car horn, that woke Steve up. He jolted upright, and barely had enough time to register the two airborne figures in his line of view before he was bolting out the door and onto the playground.

With a leap worthy of any he had made back in the war, he soared up, up, and into the air; grapping Ryan with one hand and (a currently making a mad jump for it out of her seat) Ria with the other. He turned in midair, bracing the two shrieking girls to his chest as they hit the ground; Steve's back absorbing the blow which promptly knocked the wind out of him.

Couler took in the scene before him with wide eyes and opened mouth shock. Before promptly throwing his hands in the air and proclaiming- "That was totally _wicked_! Do it again Mr. Rogers!"

A low moan from Steve was his only answer.

III

An hour later, after scolding's had been given, tearful apologizes had been made and troublesome children had been handed back to their parents to become their rightful problems, an exhausted Steve and Ryan pulled into their driveway.

"You know you're in big trouble, right Ryan?"

"Yes Daddy."

"No friends over for a few days, and no TV until Mommy gets back."

"Yes Daddy."

Steve sighed. It had been a long, stressful, painful day, and he was ready for it to be over. He unbuckled Ryan, picked her up, and walked up to his front door. As he unlocked it, he allowed himself a small smile.

"At least today couldn't get any worse." He thought as he turned the knob and opened the door to his front hall.

The man standing there spun around, a wide smile on his face. He opened his arms out to Ryan, and cried "Princess!"

"Uncle Loki! You're back!"

Steve wondered if it was too late to take Tony up on his offer to live at the Tower.

**Give you a cookie if you guess who Couler's named after? (Besides my adorable baby cousin.) Reviews are always welcome!**


	4. Chapter 4 : World War Waterballoon

**Hi everyone! Long time no see! Yeah, sorry about that, what with school and everything, I've been kinda bogged up. But I hope this chapter makes it up to you! I own nothing, and I'd like to thank everyone whose favorite or followed the story so far! Enjoy!**

"Ok, honey can you hand me another bucket of nails?" Steve Rogers called down to his wife from his perch in the partly made tree-house.

"The long ones or the short ones?"

"Um, the long ones."

Mrs. Rogers grabbed the bucket of nails and began her ascent up the plank ladder.

"Sweetie I just wanted to tell you again how great I think it is you're doing this for Ryan's tenth birthday. She's going to be so surprised when she comes back from Ria's!" She reached to top of the ladder and gave her husband a peck on the forehead.

"I hope so Hon," Steve replied, smiling at the kiss and reaching out to take the bucket. "But I don't know if I'll be able to get it finished in time. I mean I've had a whole weekend but this is bigger job then I thought!"

"You could have had it done in two minutes if you'd let me use magic."

Steve jumped at the voice and whirled around, clutching a hand to his pounding chest. "Will you _stop _doing that?! You know I hate it when you pop in out of nowhere!"

Loki, lord of Mischief, smiled brightly from his seat on one of the larger branches of the tree. "Ah, but that's what makes it so fun!"

He crawled down the branch like a cat and dropped onto the floor of the tree house. "Like I said, you could have had the whole Ryan free weekend to relax with your lovely wife if you'd just let _me_ build this fortress of trees."

"Let you build the tree-house?" Steve asked raising an eyebrow, "Not likely. Knowing you it'd end up coming to life and start wreaking havoc on the neighborhood."

"Actually I was just going to build it superfast and then enchant it to be bigger on the inside; but I like your idea _much_ better!"

Steve raised his hammer but his wife grabbed his arm. "Steve dear, remember what happened the last time, and besides, he has a point. Ryan'll be here in a few hours and you're only half done!"

Steve glared at his wife, who gave and apologetic shrug. Rolling his eyes, he dropped his arm. "_Fine_!" he groaned. Then he turned, pointing a finger at Loki, "You can finish up. But _no_ _spells_, _enchantments_ or any other sort of _hocus pocus_ to make it anything more than a tree-house, alright?"

Loki shrugged, looking put out. "Fine, fine, honestly Rogers you're so boring sometimes."

He stood up, raising his hands to begin the spell. He paused suddenly, and turned back to the Rogers. "You um, may want to stand clear of this. There's going to be nails and boards flying around…literally."

Taking the hint, Steve and his wife quickly scrambled down the ladder and into the safety of their home. They slid the back door shut just as the first board went dancing through air up towards the tree-house.

"Oh Steve it's just like that scene from the Sword in the Stone!" Mrs. Rogers cried in excitement as they watched the flying construction equipment dance in the air around Loki, boards being sawed and nailed into place by an invisible force.

Steve groaned, trying to force away the image of Ryan pulling her wooden sword from a stone while a blue cloaked and white bearded Loki looked on proudly.

III

Ryan's blue eyes widened as she looked up at the tree. "T-this is mine? You guys made this for me? I-it's…_beautiful_."

The tree-house, or more appropriate, tree-_castle_ rose up in the tree, the walls were painted to look like stone, the door could be raise and lowered like a drawbridge, and on top of one of the small towers flew a blue pennant with a gold R emblazoned on it.

"I love it Daddy! Thank you thank you thank you!" The young girl squealed with glee as she hugged her father.

Steve smiled through gritted teeth, "I'm glad you like it sweetheart." He turned to look over at Loki, "Your Uncle Loki helped too…"

Ryan squealed again and gave the other man a hug as well, before rushing up the ladder to the castle.

The minute she was up Steve's smile feel into a snarl. "I thought I said you could only use magic to _build _the tree-house!"

"I did!" Loki insisted, "It's a perfectly normal tree-house that…just happens to bear a striking resemblance to Windsor Castle."

While the two men argued, Ria Potts-Stark continued to stare in blank shock at the tree-castle her best friend was currently running around. She turned to her father, disbelief and annoyance on her face.

"Daddy how come you never built_ me_ a tree-house?"

"Well, sweetie there aren't exactly any trees growing in the tower…"

"Oh…" she was silent for a moment, "Could…you _build_ a tree in the tower?"

Tony raised an eyebrow at his daughter, and then lowered it, a thoughtful look on his face. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

"Bruce? Yeah it's me. Hey do you think you could help me talk Pepper into covering the sixteenth flour with dirt and foliage?"

III

Three weeks later…

"So kid, whadda ya think?" Tony Stark asked as he grinned smugly down at his daughter.

Ria looked up at the gleaming spaceship like tree-house that towered above her. The tree it rested in was set square in the middle of the room, surrounded by a small forest of plastic shrubbery, all of which looked out at New York City from the dizzying height of Stark Tower. A miniature park inside of a skyscraper.

"It's perfect! Thank you so much Daddy!"

She grinned wide, and hugged her father. He embraced her back, and in doing so couldn't see the grin turn into a smirk.

"Ryan's gonna eat her heart out when she sees!" Ria whispered to herself.

"What was that honey?"

"Nothing Dad!" Ria replied, just a little to brightly. "Nothing at all…"

III

Ryan Rogers was not really the jealous type, but she did have pride. Ria may have been her best friend, but a person could only stand so much bragging before they had to hang up on even the best of friends.

"Stupid Ria, just because_ her_ tree-house has a TV and a computer and _phone_ in it!" Ryan grumbled as she climbed the ladder to her own tree-fort. "What, does that make her think it's _better_ than mine?!"

"Now why are you marring such a lovely face with such a frightful scowl Princess?"

Ryan jumped at the voice, and then smiled when she saw the figure currently occupying one of the tree-house's chairs.

"Hi Uncle Loki. It's Ria again, she's got a new tree-house too and she's just spent the last half-hour telling me how much _cooler_ it is than mine!"

Ryan snorted at the very thought that _anything_ could be superior to something made her father and 'uncle'.

Loki smiled at Ryan's obvious contempt for the Stark girl's bragging. He'd never really been on what one would call…_friendly terms_ with the child. He found her to be utterly too much like her father, and _she_ had obviously taken to every terrible tale that Stark had told her of him. They mostly tolerated each other's presence to please Ryan, but if there was a chance to wreak some havoc on the Stark household with Ryan's consent, or even _cooperation_…

"Ryan my princess…" Loki said slowly, choosing his words carefully.

"You know I would _never_ want to cause contention among friends…but…what do you say to knocking Miss Potts-Stark down a few notches?"

Ryan scowl slowly turned into a smile…

III

Ria was on her phone, in the middle of explaining all the advantages of her tree-house over Ryan's to her friend Jaya, when she heard the first _splat_.

At first she had figured it was just another dumb pigeon flying into the surrounding windows, a common enough occurrence at Stark Tower. But then there had been _another_ splat, and another, and _**another**__!_

Ria figured even a whole _flock_ of pigeons couldn't be _that _stupid, and had paused her one-sided conversation to peer out one of the portals of her tree-space ship. What she saw made her jaw drop.

Splattered across the window, in a mix of dripping, oozing paints where the words: **Magic beats Science!**

For about five minutes, Ria simply stared at the words, her usually quick mind drawing a complete blank. _Who_ would want to write such a weird message on her tower? _Why_ would they? And _how_ could somebody have painted a window sixteen stories above the ground?!

And suddenly, as she looked out at the oozing graffiti, the answer to all the questions came together in three simple words.

"_Ryan and Loki_…"

Ria's lips pursed, and her eyes narrowed. _Two_ could play at that game. In fact…_two_ would! She picked up her phone from where, in shock, she had dropped it. Jaya's voice was coming through, asking if Ria was still there.

"Jay, _get up here_. We're about to initiate the greatest long distance prank war this state's ever seen!"

III

Ryan lay on the floor of the tree-house, laughing hysterically. Loki smiled benignly down at her from his position next to a magically conjured trebuchet; which had just finished launching a dozen equally magical paint bombs across the miles that separated the Roger's backyard from their intended target.

"Oh man!" Ryan wheezed, clutching at her sides to try and stop their shaking. "I-_ hahahaha_-I wish I could see Ria's_ face_ when they hit! _Hahahaha_!"

"Indeed. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing her father's reaction either." Loki said with a smirk.

"I'll—_hahaha—_I'll bet she's just sitting there wishing she had a_ real_ spaceship to fly over and get us back with!"

III

"Do you mean to tell me this is _real_ spaceship?!" Jaya exclaimed as Ria adjusted various dials and knobs from her seat in the tree-ship cockpit.

"Yup." Ria pronounced with almost tangibly conceit. "I made a few modifications to it while Daddy and Uncle Bruce weren't looking. I've just been waiting for an excuse to take it out for a test flight, and good old Ryan just provided me with one! Now put your seatbelt on! We're about to launch this baby!"

Jaya just shook her head, too overwhelmed to act in her normal capacity of 'Voice of Reason'. It wasn't easy being friends with a super genius, (even if you weren't to far behind on the bell curve yourself), especially one with the resources and utter lack of common sense possessed by Ria Potts-Stark. Most of the time, you just had to buckle up for the ride and hope it'd all turn out all right in the end. And apparently, this was going to be one of those times.

Ria flipped a final switch, and the engines roared to life, scorching the artificial shrubbery below them.

"Now!" She called over the roar of the thrusters as the spaceship lifted from its tree. "If my mom asks, it was all my Dad's fault for not keeping a closer eye on my extra-curricular activities! OK?!"

"What?!" Jaya called back, unable to hear anything over the engines and the large window of the sixteenth floor opening up to allow their flight,( and the voice of JARVIS trying desperately to talk some sense into his young charge).

"Awesome!" Ria agreed. "Ok, Five, Four, Three, Two,-"

"Miss Ria," JARVIS cut in, " I really must advise against this course of acti—"

"ONE! _BLASTOFF_!"

The spaceship shot out of the tower like a Pez an over sized Pez-dispencer, sailing over the skyline of New York and throwing all of the Chitauri War veterans who saw it into a screaming frenzy.

Ria, oblivious to the panic she was inciting grinned like a Chesire cat as she guided the ship through the crowds. "Flies real smooth huh?!"

"S-s-sure!" Jaya managed to say through chattering, gritted teeth as she tried desperately to avoid looking out the window.

"Yup!" declared Ria, looking like a proud parent as she adjusted the ships coordinates. "When Ryan and Reindeer Games see this baby, they'll wet their pants! Onward!"

And with that the ship speed off in the direction of the Rogers Household…

III

Ryan was still laughing uncontrollably when the shadow appeared over the tree-house. A first, she thought it was just a passing cloud, but then she heard the noise…

"Wa-_haha_-wait…what's that?"

There was as strange sound in the air, like a far off whistle. Only, it seemed to be getting louder by the second. Still slightly shaky from laughing so hard, Ryan managed to get up and walk over to the window.

She stuck her head out to see what was happening—_and received a huge water balloon smack in the face!_

Dazed and dripping, Ryan staggered back and Loki had to reach to catch her before she fell on the floor.

"Wha-wha—_huh_?" Was all she managed to get out.

Gently placing Ryan on a chair, Loki moved swiftly to the window, careful only to peer out enough to see, but not be seen.

For a moment his mind simply couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. There appeared to be some sort of…spacecraft hovering about a half a mile over the Rogers's home. This was not such of an odd occurrence as one might think. Rogers was, after all, an Avenger. But usually the aliens tried to take out the bigger structures before moving into the suburbs.

It was only when his eagle-sharp eyes spotted the logo on the hull of the ship that Loki realized what was going on. "_Stark_."

He might have known that little smart-mouthed brat wouldn't stand to be one-uped for long. The gunnels of the ship looked to be preparing for another strike, and Loki knew he had to think fast.

"Ryan!" He said sternly as he turned back to his stunned charge. "The sanctity of your home has been breached by the machinations of Ria Potts-Stark ! We must avenge this outrage! Will you aid me in this princess?"

(He cringed as how much he sounded like Thor rallying the troops, but, war was war).

Ryan had never been one to back down when faced with a challenge, (particularly when it meant showing up Ria). She leapt from her chair, raising her hand up to her dripping hair in a salute.

"Sir yes Sir!"

Loki grinned dangerously. "Then let us begin."

III

Jaya looked on in growing anxiety as Ria laughed manically.

"That was awesome! _Hahahaha!_ Did you see that! Right in the kisser! Who's tree-house beats who's now huh?! _Mwhahahahaha!"_

"Huh huh…" Jaya answered absently, eyeing the tree-castle below them apprehensively. Something…odd was going on down there. She thought she saw a green flash of light, but she must have imagined it, as it was gone the next second. Still, Jaya knew enough about Ryan Rogers's unconventional babysitter to know they should be acting more cautious then they were.

"Ok Ria, we got her…so can we _go_ know? I'm supposed to be back in time for dinner…"

Ria rolled her eyes at her meeker friends unease, and gave an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, Yeah, just let me drop one more on the—"

At the precise moment, the ship rocked dangerously in the air as something from below struck the lower side with the force of a cannonball!

Ria scrambled wildly to regain the ship's equilibrium. "What the heck was _that_?!"

"I don't know!" Jaya leaned over in her seat, peering out the window. "It looks like they're trying to soak us back! I-is that a _trebuchet_?!"

Ria scowled. She should have known that Loki would conjure up something. "Well…there's more where that came from! Our 'that' I mean. Get in the second cockpit Jay! If it's a war they want, it's a war they'll get!"

Ria's eyes were gleaming crazily as she prepared for a second attack, and Jaya wondered why she didn't just stay home whenever Ria's number came up on the phone.

III

Steve and his wife had been enjoying a wonderful date in the city; at least, they had been until the Chitauri scare earlier. After giving the city a quick sweep, Steve had concluded it had been a false alarm, probably just Stark messing around again and not being careful.

At any rate, both of them were tired, and ready to get home and enjoy a nice, quiet evening.

One would really think they'd have learned better by now.

As they neared their neighborhood, streams of people began fleeing past the car, waving arms wildly and screaming such things as:

"Water! Water _Everywhere_!" and "The Horror! _The Horror_!" and frequently "I _told_ you we should have moved! When it was only _cookie dough_ floods I _told_ you!"

With growing dread, (mixed with ever increasing acceptance that they're lives were never going to be nice and quiet) the Rogers pulled onto their street.

The place looked like it'd been hit by a tsunami. Lawns had turned to bogs of mud, houses were missing shingles, the ground was littered with pieces of trees and _hundreds_ burst rubber water balloons.

Several trebuchets manned by a slew of duplicate Loki's were firing at a small spaceship that was rapidly firing back. The largest of the trebuchets was could be seen sticking out from behind the Roger's house, sticking up from the tree-house.

The original Loki was conjuring water balloons at an amazing speed, which were being loaded onto the trebuchet by a soaking wet Couler (recruited to the Roger's side of the skirmish a few hours ago), as above them, in the highest tower of the tree house, an equally soaking wet Ryan, sporting one of her father's old blue war helmets, barked orders to her Loki troops.

Steve and his wife simply looked on in absolute shock as the scene played out before them, water balloons splattering their car.

Finally, Steve turned to his wife, and with an expressionless tone asked, "Do you think Fury could make one of those big old glass cells for Loki again?"

"I think we should be more concerned with getting one for Ryan.." She replied.

**Well, there you go! Hope you all enjoy it! Thank you so much for waiting so patiently! If you'd like to see some of what I've been working on, feel free to check out my other story **_**Rising Son**_**. I hope you like it! Reviews are always welcome!**


	5. Chapter 5 : Voyage into Vagueness Part 1

**Hi everybody! I'm back! I'm excited to be writing this next part because it's going to be in several parts, a first for this story! Thank you to everyone who's signed up to Follow this story! I never thought that I'd get this many Followers! I don't own anything in this story or I'd give you all a cut of my royalties! Have fun reading, and please feel free to review!**

Steve Rogers eyes widened in alarm as he raised his shield to fend off the snarling, raging beast that was currently charging at him and his companions.

As the beast gave a deafening howl of rage, Steve turned to glare at the man responsible for getting them all into this mess.

Loki, noticing Steve's look, had the grace to give an apologetic smile before raising his spear to help impede the approaching attack.

"Don't worry Dad!" Ryan said with a grin as she hoisted her glowing sword. "I've handled worse!"

Steve rolled his eyes at the remark, and as the beast barreled down at them, wondered how the weekend had gotten so terribly out of hand.

_48 hours earlier…_

"You sure you'll be alright alone for three days?" Steve's wife had asked before leaving to visit her sister in Michigan.

"Sweetheart we'll be fine!" Steve had assured her. "You go and have fun, ok?"

Mrs. Rogers bit her lip, unease showing in her face. "_Fun_'s what I'm afraid of."

She turned to look at her daughter. "Just make sure that the house is still standing when I get back ok?"

Ryan placed one hand on her heart and raised the other, as if taking an oath. "I swear I won't let anything happen to it. I'll tell Uncle Loki that if he wants to do anything, we have to do it away from the house."

"And the neighborhood." Steve added firmly.

"And New York." Added Mrs. Rogers.

Ryan rolled her eyes in a way that showed she clearly thought her parents were making too big of a deal about this. Then she grinned, in a way that reminded her parents more then they liked of her adopted uncle.

"So basically you're saying it's ok if we pop out of state for a bi-"

"NO!" both her parents cut in sharply.

Ryan's grinned broadened, and she raised her hands in mock surrender. "Just kidding, just kidding."

Mrs. Rogers gave an exhausted sigh. "Maybe I should just stay home."

Steve reached over and pulled his wife into a hug. "We'll be _fine_ hon. I promise I'll keep them in check, and I'll make sure that Ryan here doesn't go chasing after anymore supervillians.'

"Hey!" Ryan cut in indignantly. "If Ria and Jaya and Couler and I _hadn't_ gone down that tunnel the Mole Man would have ruined Christmas for everyone in New York!"

"And because of your actions we all narrowly avoided the Fantastic Four suing us for endangering their son." Steve reminded her.

"Hey, Frank was already there! We just bumped into him. _And _if we hadn't all teamed up poor Jaya would have ended up as a Mole Princess!"

Her eyes shown with glee at the memory of the adventure. "And the New Avengers would never have been formed!"

"You are _not_ the New Avengers!" Steve said firmly. "You're all just twelve years old!"

"Twelve and a half!" Ryan reminded him indignantly.

"_Anyway._" Steve continued, "You are not allowed to go running around the state, _or any other states, _without _my_ say-so. _Alright_?"

Ryan sighed, but nodded. "_Alright_." She mumbled.

She gave her mother one last hug and then helped carry the bags out to the car.

As they watched the car pull away, Ryan turned to her father and asked. "So are other _countries_ ok?"

"_No_."

That night, long after Steve had gone to sleep, Ryan lay awake thinking.

She understood that her parents thought she was too young to be part of a superhero team, but hadn't she _proven_ to them she could handle it? After all, she'd managed to lead a team of _twelve year olds_ against an _army_ of Mole Man minions in a battle-royal below ground only that winter! And they'd won! Spectacularly even! And without any adult help what so ever! Well… maybe a little…

Silently, Ryan knelt beside her bed, and pulled out the long wooden sword she'd been given by Loki when she'd been only five years old. It wasn't a normal wooden sword, two simple planks hammered together with one end bluntly sharpened. No, this gift had been carved into the shape of a _real_ sword. Made from walnut, it was dark and long, and, with carved flowers and vines winding around the hilt. It was one of her most prized possessions, and, though it was beautiful, for years she'd thought it was only a simple sword… until the battle with the Mole Man…

When things had seemed their bleakest, and it looked like the Mole Man was about to triumph in his dastardly deed, Ryan had stood her ground, and in true Rogers fashion, had taken one last lunge at the villain.

The Mole Man had cackled derisively at her attack, but he hadn't been cackling a second later, when he'd been flung back and pinned against the wall by a _wave of ice_ that had exploded from the sword.

Shocked as anyone by this unexpected outcome, it had been the _one_ part of the story that Ryan had kept from her parents after she and her friends had emerged from below Rockefeller Center with the Mole Man tied and the Christmas Tree intact.

She stared at the sword, turning it over in her hands. She hadn't really used it since the adventure, in fact, she'd sort of… _avoided_ it. When she'd used it on the Mole Man, there had been a strange feeling coming from it, coming from _her_. It was like… like the ice hadn't just emerged from the sword, but had emerged from her, formed from something inside her that the sword had found and pulled and channeled out into a frigid assault.

It had felt so odd and…unsettling. She didn't think that Uncle Loki would give her anything that could hurt her, but she still didn't like the feeling of things being pulled out from inside her and twisted into something else.

She turned the sword over in her hands, pondering every inch of it, trying to see if she could detect anything else otherworldly about it. It seemed ordinary enough now…

She rubbed her finger along the grain, and looked out of her window. There was one particularly bright star that caught her eye, and sighing, she whispered:

"I wish I could prove to my dad that I can be hero… I wish that I could go on another adventure…"

She laughed silently to herself, and shook her head. Here she was, twelve years old and still wishing on stars…

"Heh, as long as I'm at it, I should say that I wish I knew what was up with this sword."

Maybe it was the star, or maybe it was the sword itself; but the next thing Ryan knew, there was a flash of blinding white light, and suddenly she was somewhere that was _definitely_ not her room.

She bolted up, clutching the sword to her chest in shock. Everywhere she looked, there was dark green grass and trees and shrubbery, all taller than anything she'd seen back home and stretching above her was a now sun filled sky, in which she could see what looked like several huge _planets _floating benignly.

Ryan stared in opened mouth shock. "Self…I don't think we're in New York…or America… or _Earth_ any more…"

**Well! Things are certainly taking off quickly! I hope you like this and I'll try to post the next part tomorrow! **


	6. Chapter 6 : Voyage into Vagueness Part 2

**Hey! Second Part Up! I hope you'll like it! I own nothing.**

Ryan Rogers was not a girl prone to panic at sudden surprises. She had grown up with Loki after all. She had survived many near catastrophes over the years, (and helped cause a fair few herself), and she was used to strange and inexplicable things happening around her. But that was the point. They usually happened _around_ her, not _to_ her!

She'd never been out of New York before, (unless you counted that one disastrous trip to her aunt's in Michigan, which was now the reason that only her mother visited), much less the _world! _She wasn't sure what she should do. Her parents had always told her that the first thing to do when she was lost was to not panic.

She took a few deep breaths. Ok, she could check that off her list. What was the next thing they'd always said to do? Oh yeah, _stay put_. That way, someone could come and find you.

She looked around at the foreign landscape that spread out in front of her. Given that she was in all likelihood not even in her own solar system anymore, she wasn't sure how well the 'someone coming and finding her' part would work out.

Suddenly, a rustling noise from the trees broke into her thoughts. She looked around quickly, trying to see where the noise had come from. Though she couldn't see anything, she gripped the hilt of her sword tightly.

She took a few more deep breaths, and weighed her options. She could either stay in this forest, which had a very high chance of being populated by all sorts of _large_ and _hungry_ alien creatures; _or_ she could try and find some sort of civilization, hope the natives were friendly, hope they spoke English, and also hope they would be willing to give a twelve year old girl with nothing but a magical wooden sword and a set of Captain America PJs a lift back to Earth…

Well it was better than getting eaten.

Lifting her sword, Ryan closed her eyes and spun around in a circle. She opened her eyes to see which way the sword was pointing, and nodded in agreement with the direction she'd blindly picked.

"Well, come on feet." She said encouragingly, and headed off.

_Meanwhile, light-years away…._

Steve Rogers, with an intuition cultivated by years of having to put up with strange and bizarre happenings, shot up from his bed and declared:

"Something is not right."

Jumping from his bed, he rushed down the hallway and kicked open Ryan's door the same way he had once kicked down the doors to HYDRA bunkers.

(He knew his wife would probably kill him for running another door, but there were more important things to worry about at that moment.)

"Ryan?" He called, looking wildly around the room, his Super-Soldier Senses going wild.

Bed: Empty

Under Bed: Empty (apart from a few dust bunnies and a pair of socks)

Closet: Empty

Window: Closed and no sign of Forced Entry

Bathroom: Empty

Kitchen: Empty

Treehouse: Empty

Next Course of Action?

Call Wife? – No, that wouldn't end pleasantly for anyone.

Call Avengers?- No, most out on missions (and still made at Tony for Iron Armor Avengers incident)

Find/Pummel Till He Talks, Loki?- YES.

Of course this last plan was easier thought then done. Loki wasn't exactly the kind to leave a forwarding address every time he got kicked out of someplace. Luckily for Steve (though perhaps not so luckily for Loki at this instance) after twelve years plus years of having to deal with the man, Steve had a pretty good knowledge of the pranksters favorite haunts.

One hour later, Loki found himself being forcibly removed from Chuck E. Cheese's by a very irate Steve.

"Rogers!" Loki cried indignantly, "I wasn't really going to make those freakishly demented puppets come to life! I was just saying that to force that brainless boy behind the counter to give me the I-Phone! There's no way I could have gotten it otherwise, you know all those games are rigged!"

To Loki's surprise, Steve's answer was to slam him against the side of the building, pinning a foot above the ground.

"I'm getting the sense that perhaps this isn't about the willful damage of private property…" Loki said, trying to keep his characteristic smirk. Rogers' deadly gaze was making it hard though. He'd never _seen_ the man so angry, not even back when they'd first battled, and truthfully, it was almost…_ frightening_.

"I'm only going to ask this once Reindeer Games" Steve hissed through gritted teeth. "_Where_ is my _daughter_?"

Loki, as much as it was possible, paled at Steve's words.

"You don't know why Ryan is?" He asked softly.

Steve's glare deepened. "You trying to tell me you don't?"

Loki shook his head. "I haven't seen her since last week. You told me to give the neighborhood time to cool off after the lawn gnome incident, remember?"

Steve looked unconvinced, and Loki sighed.

"Rogers, I promise you that I don't know where she is, and I have nothing to do with her disappearance."

Seeing his promise had little effect on Steve, Loki's calm demeanor began to crumble. "Rogers'… I _swear _to you. I swear _on her life_. And I'll do whatever I can to help you find her."

Steve looked Loki straight in the eye for a long, tense moment, and then he finally let him go. He knew that as much as Loki loved to lie, that he would was always serious when he swore on Ryan's life. It was one of the few things he seemed to hold absolutely sacred.

"Alright… I believe you…do you really think you can help me find her?"

The broken, almost desperate tone in Steve's voice would have made a stone heart melt. And as much as the two men quarreled and fought, Loki had to admit that he had a fondness for the man, and not just for his daughter's sake.

Steve had a simple, honest quality about him that Loki hadn't encountered in any of the other Avengers. He'd been the only one, apart from his brother, to really give Loki a chance. He'd accepted the trickster, albeit rather reluctantly, into his _home_. _Trusted_ him with his _daughter, _a girl who'd come to mean more to Loki then he'd ever thought _any _mortal would. He_ loved_ Ryan. Hadn't he proved it a hundred times over? And now he would make it a hundred and one.

Gently, Loki reached over and touched Steve's shoulder. "Of _course_ I will Rogers."

Steve gave him a small, not quite convincing smile. "…Thank you."

Soon, the two men had driven back to the Rogers' home and were inspecting Ryan's room.

Loki's hands glowed as he cast a tracing spell. "Hmmm…I can't detect any foreign or malevolent presences…though…"

"What?" Steve asked as Loki trailed off.

The man scrunched his eyebrows together, as though trying to make sense of something he found particularly puzzling.

"I'm not sure…there's something here…but…"

Suddenly, his eyes shot open. "Oh dear…"

"_What?!"_ Steve cried out in alarm.

Loki had paled again, and was staring up at the ceiling of the room. No, not at the ceiling, but at something he seemed to see beyond the ceiling.

"But…but how could she have possibly gone _there_?!" Loki muttered to himself, seemingly in shock.

"Gone _where_?!" Steve demanded, reaching out to take Loki by the shoulders and shake him. "Where's Ryan?! Where's my daughter?!"

Loki looked into Steve's eyes, his own wide in shock. "Rogers…I don't know how…but…Ryan's on _Asgard."_

For a moment, Steve simply stared at Loki. Then his eyes rolled back in his head, and his knees began to give out underneath him.

"Now none of that!" Loki cried, reaching to catch the fainting captain as he fell. "This is no time for hysterics Rogers! We must journey to Asgard this instant and find Ryan, before anything else finds _her_!"

Steve clutched his head, trying to make sense of all this. His daughter, his precious _twelve year old_ daughter was _hundreds_ of light-years away on a foreign and (from what he'd witnessed and heard of) not all that benign planet. How had she gotten there?! How was he going to get her back?! And how could he keep his wife from finding out so she wouldn't _kill_ him?!

"How-How do we get there?" Steve asked after he could stand straight again. "Could you contact Thor, or get Heimdall to open up the Bifrost?"

Loki's mouth tightened. Though he had managed to mostly make up with the residents of Asgard over the years, there was still a fair amount of tension between him and many of them. Particularly Heimdall. Honestly, encase someone in ice for a few days _one time_, and they never let you hear the end of it.

But with Ryan at stake, (and the fact that many of his secret ways into Asgard had been blocked off by Odin after Thor had brought him back from New York all those years ago) he was willing to ask for help.

"I'll see what I can do."

_Meanwhile, in a galaxy far far away…_

Ryan gritted her teeth with pain as she made her way through the forest. She wished she was one of those kids who wore slippers, or even _socks_ to bed. At least then her feet would have some protection from all these little rocks and sticks all over the place. For _heaven's sake_ hadn't anyone on this blasted planet heard of _sidewalks_?!

"Oh where in blazes am I anyway?" She grumbled, looking around at the seemingly endless trees. "Argh! This hopeless!" She kicked out at a rock in frustration, a move she instantly regretted.

As she hopped on one foot, trying to keep her balance while maintaining hold of her sword, she didn't notice a movement in the bushes behind her. A massive _wolf,_ almost the size of a horse was silently making its way towards her.

The creature responsible slowly crept closer, licking its chops in anticipation of it's soon to be meal. Ryan, oblivious to the danger about to spring upon her from behind, continued to grumble.

"Stupid rock! Stupid woods!" She glared around at the trees. "If I had my way you'd all be turned into a housing development like _that_!"

She swung her sword out to punctuate her frustration, and ended up whacking the colossal carnivore right on the nose!

The wolf howled in pain, and Ryan whirled around at the sound. Her eyes bulged and she gave a scream of terror. Never before had she seen anything so huge and terrifying!

The wolf, now recovered, snapped fiercely, and instantly Ryan's fighting instincts took over. She leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding the bone shattering teeth as the beast lunged for her. She swiped at the beast with her sword, landing another sharp crack on its nose.

The monster snarled, shook it's head, and lunged again!

Again Ryan leapt back, swinging the sword wildly. Again and again the actions were repeated! The wolf and girl lunging and leaping about in a circle, and Ryan's defenses strikes became more and more desperate!

Finally, exhausted and nearly wild with fear and fury, Ryan tripped over a root and landed hard on her back, the sword falling from her hands and flying across the ground out of her reach!

Her eyes whipped wildly between the sword and the wolf, which was now crouching down, ready to spring upon the exhausted girl and strike a deathblow! It sprung into the air with a bloodcurdling howl, and, _seconds_ before it reached its target, Ryan rolled away and dashed towards the sword!

The wolf corrected its aim the second it's front paws touched the ground, and leapt again!

Frozen with fear and not knowing what to do, Ryan stuck the sword out in front of her and shut her eyes tight, willing herself to wake up and discover this was all some terrible dream! She waited to feel the force of the wolf as it slammed in her, waited for its hot breath and razor sharp teeth! She waited-

And waited still.

Finally, after what seemed an infuriatingly long time to wait for one's death, though in reality it was only really a few seconds, Ryan cautiously opened one eye.

The other shot open in shock!

The wolf hung in midair, mouth open wide, eyes blazing, claws extended- but now it was entirely encased within a thick layer of ice! A large spray of ice held the wolf's frozen body several feet above the ground, like some sort of bizarre stand for an even bizarrer statue!

Ryan stared at the creature, hardly able to believe how close she had come to death. Slowly, she turned her gaze down to the sword that was still clutched tightly in her now shaking hands.

"…Ok…that happened."

Then her knees gave out, and for the next few hours all she knew was blackness.

**Well, that's all for now! Please feel free to review, and I'll try to update as quickly as I can! **


	7. Chapter 7 : Voyage into Vagueness Part 3

**Part three, probably of six, so halfway there! I own nothing.**

The next thing Ryan became aware of was the sound of voices, breaking through the darkness that had wrapped around her head.

She blinked, trying to clear her vision and thoughts, and was able to make out the words that were being spoken.

"Well I think that we should wait until mother and father return home until we doing anything."

"Don't be stupid Rolfe, we can't just leave her here, I mean look at that thing!"

"_Exactly _Flosi. It's frozen solid! Have you ever seen anything like that?! And look at her clothes! No, we can't take her home until we know how she did it. A nice fix we'd be in if we brought home some sort of mini ice sorceress."

"Oh come on Rolfe, she's just a little girl, and look how _small_ she is! She can't be much older than Gudrun here."

At this Ryan's eyes finally shot open. Someone had not only called her "little girl" but had _insulted_ her _size_ and _questioned_ her _age_.

Her head lifted from off of the ground where she had fainted, and she glared at the group was now surrounding her.

"You know I can _hear _you?"

The speakers jumped at the sound of her voice, and for the first time Ryan realized that they were only children, and none of them looked to be much older than her. And all of them were dressed as if they'd just come from Middle-Earth.

There were two boys, one skinny and dark-haired, who was looking at Ryan nervously, as though she might freeze _him_. The other was bulky and fair, and seemed to be merely interested in her appearance.

There were three girls; a small toddler with two blonde braids (one of which she was nibbling the end of), another older girl with dark hair pulled into a long ponytail, looking excited.

And finally, clutching Ryan's sword, and glaring with an intensity that would could have melted the frozen wolf; there was a tall, gangly, fair-haired girl about Ryan's age, who had placed a booted foot on top of Ryan's chest.

"So," the girl said, her glare never wavering, "You're awake."

"So it seems." Ryan replied with an even tone, determined not to be intimidated by the glare. "I could probably get up to if you'd kindly remove your foot."

"We're not so sure we want you to get up." The girl stated firmly. "At least, not until you answer some questions."

She moved her body slightly, so that she could point at the frozen wolf, but did not lift her foot. "Did you do that?"

Ryan pondered what reactions her answer might invoke, but as she could see no point in lying, she nodded.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "How?"

Ryan shrugged, "I don't really know, it just sort of…_happened_."

"It's because she's a Sorceress!" The dark haired boy cried, then clamped his mouth shut as the girl turned her glare at him. Then she turned back to Ryan, her eyes sharp and searching.

"Does my dimwitted brother speak true stranger? Are you are sorceress?"

"No!" Ryan exclaimed firmly. Then her face took on a confused look, "At least, I don't think so. The ice came from the sword see, but it's never done anything magic before and-"

The girl held up a hand to stop her speaking. "This sword?" She asked, raising it.

Ryan nodded, and the girl turned her eyes to the wooden weapon. Her long fingers traced the blade, and she flipped it over several times to examine each side. Finally, she swung it in an arc over her head, howling a warriors cry as she did so, startling several birds from the trees.

Nothing happened.

"Hmmm…" said the girl, and she turned her gaze back to Ryan.

"What's your name girl?"

"Ryan. Ryan Rogers."

The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, the same Ryan Rogers who's father is the warrior Captain America?"

Ryan grinned, proud that her father's name seemed to be known even on this technology forsaken planet. "That's the one!"

"But this is astounding!" The girl cried out in excitement, finally lifting her foot from Ryan's chest and helping her to her feet. "We've heard stories about your father from ours! Come to that we've heard quite a few stories about _you_ as well. Is it true that you rescued the giant Yule tree of Rockperson Central from the clutches of a giant mole, thus almost single handily saving the kingdom of New York?!"

"Well kind of—" Ryan began, when the dark haired boy shrieked again.

"Hildy! She's the one the traitor Loki has taken under his wing! We should be _fighting_ her, not asking her dumb questions!"

"Oh shut up Rolfe!" the girl Hildy spat. She turned to Ryan with an apologetic look. "Don't mind him, he's just the family idiot."

"Hey!" Rolfe protested, but Hildy silenced him with another stony glare.

"I'm Hildy," She said, giving Ryan the first smile she'd seen from the girl. "And these are my brothers and sisters. This is Flosi-" She pointed to the dark haired girl, who gave a nervous, exited giggle as she waved. "Alaric," the bulky boy nodded, "You know Rolfe," Rolfe glared, "And this is Gudrun."

Hildy gave the smallest girl an absent minded but affectionate pat on the head. Gudrun, not bothering to take her braid out of her mouth, gave a small wave.

"Um…it's nice to meet all of you." Ryan said, trying to give a sincere smile to each of them, though Rolfe's frightened scowl was making it a bit difficult.

"Um, Hildy…" Ryan asked as she turned back to the girl. I wonder if you could tell me…where exactly_ am_ I?"

Hildy looked surprised at the question. "But…don't you know? Surely you've come here with your father, or perhaps Lord Thor?"

"Well, no actually," Ryan began, "It's kinda of just me. You see I was in my room when-"

Suddenly she stopped as she realized what Hildy had said. "Wait…Thor?"

"Yes."Hildy said, seeming even more perplexed. "You have met him as well, haven't you? I assumed you were familiar with all the Avengers."

"I am, I just…if Thor'd be here…then…this must be…"

Ryan suddenly looked around at her surroundings with new eyes. How many stories had she heard about this place? How many times had Loki teased her parents about stealing her away to it? How many times had she gone to sleep with his whispered promises that someday he'd actually show it to her and _now_! Now here she was!

Ryan's heart began to pound, and a small, unbelieving smile crept across her face as she whispered:

"I'm on Asgard…"

_Meanwhile…._

Deciding that neither his wife nor neighbors would appreciate having a giant interstellar portal opening up in their backyard; Steve (now clad in his Captain America uniform) had driven himself and Loki to a nearby open field, where they now stood, waiting to see if Loki's summoning spell would work.

"Are you sure he's even awake right now?" Steve asked, gazing up at the sky.

"It is day on Asgard, and besides, Heimdall and the Allfather can see even in their sleep."

"Then come they have such a hard time keeping an eye on you?" Steve muttered.

Loki shot him a look, but then continued to watch the sky.

For a long moment, it seemed as though nothing was going to happen. Then a bright light twinkled above them, and then suddenly shot down upon them, illuminating the field with blinding intensity and encircling the two men.

"This is it!" Loki cried above the roar that seemed to be emanating from the light itself. "Are you ready Rogers?"

Steve nodded, pulling his mask down over his face, "Beam me up."

Steve felt a jolt in the pit of his stomach, the light folded in around him, and then suddenly he was hurtling through tunnel of shifting lights at speeds faster then he knew was mortally possible. He gripped his shield tightly, and he could feel his teeth chattering in his skull as he shot across the universe in mere seconds.

The next thing he knew, he was stumbling into a large golden room. A raised platform stood in the center of it, upon which stood a huge man clothed in golden armor.

"Welcome, Steve Rogers" The man said in a strangely resonating voice. "To the golden realm of Asgard."

"Yes yes Heimdall," Loki cut in, "He doesn't need to hear the whole 'Golden Realm' spiel. We need to speak to the Allfather immediately."

Heimdall frowned at the interruption, but nodded. "He is aware of Steve Rogers plight, and awaits you both in the throne room."

Steve looked past the man to the door of the room, from which he could see a long, shimmering bridge made of some sort of crystal that led to a shining city far in the distance.

"Guess we better not keep him waiting then."

Loki nodded in agreement. "That is usually a wise course of action." He then walked towards the entrance, and then turned back with a grin, gesturing for Steve to go ahead.

"Off to see the Wizard."

Steve rolled his eyes, "Follow the Rainbow Road huh? I can't believe Tony told you about that flying monkeys thing, he doesn't even _like_ you."

Loki pressed a hand to his heart, as though wounded. "No! I can't believe that."

Steve rolled his eyes again, hefted his shield, and began walking down the Rainbow Bridge, Loki easily keep step with him.

"Well if I'm Dorothy, what's that make you, Glinda?"

"Oh please, I'm obviously the Wicked Witch of the West."

"Oh, so you don't mind if I melt you after this?"

Heimdall watched bemusedly as the two men walked into the distance. Though no love was lost between him and Loki, he was glad that the man had found someone who could banter with him in such a friendly fashion.

He gazed out into the endless void of space, and his mood darkened as he looked into the possible futures that continually shifted and changed within his unique view. He hoped that this semi-friendship would be able to withstand what was about to arise…

**Hey guys, I meant this chapter to be longer, but sickness and a small amount of writers block has stopped that. But I will attempt to upload the next part on Monday or Tuesday. Anyway, I hope you like what's happening so far. And if any of you can guess who those kids belong to I'll be very happy!**


	8. Chapter 8 : Voyage into Vagueness Part 4

**Hey hey! Part Four! I own nothing, and I hope you're all enjoying the story! **

Steve could see that Loki was in obvious discomfort as the two men, joined by Thor and the Warriors Three, stood before Odin in his golden throne room.

He knew that it had taken many years and much help from Thor for Loki to even begin to make amends for his past deeds to his fellow Asgardians, but it was obvious the man still had a long way to go before they or he felt entirely secure around each other again.

"I am sorry, Steven Rogers," Odin said, after reopening his remaining eye. "But though I have searched the land with my sight, yet some force seems to cloud thy daughter from my view."

Loki looked truly alarmed, almost for the first time Steve had ever seen.

"What power could hide the girl from the sight of Odin?" He asked in a breathless voice.

Odin looked long at his estranged son. It was clear that he was remembering another time when a then unknown power had shielded it's wielder from his sight. It was especially clear to Loki, whose look darkened considerably.

"I had nothing to do with this." He said in a soft, but insistent tone.

"Father did not say you did Loki." Thor whispered to his brother.

Loki shot him a glance, but said nothing.

"I must council with my advisors on this." Odin said, rising from his throne. "I will return when we have formed a solution."

The Asgardians bowed as their king exited the room. Steve nodded his head respectfully, and noticed that Loki's bow was far shorter than any of the others had been. Steve saw from the others disproving glances that they'd noticed as well. He sighed, and wondered if the old wounds and grudges that Loki bore towards these people, and they to him, would ever heal.

"Well then," Fandral said after Odin had left, clapping his hands together with a bit too much merriment for Steve's liking. "We can't just sit around waiting for all those old codgers to come up with something. I say we do this the old fashioned way! Split into groups and search the land on foot and horseback for dear Reagan!"

"Ryan." Steve corrected, glaring at the obvious excitement in the man at the prospect of an adventure.

Fandral waved the statement away, too caught up in the coming escapades to pay Steve much mind. "Yes yes, whatever. Thor! You and I shall cover the South, Hogun and Volstagg the East, Loki and the Captain can take the West," (Steve could not help but smirk at that) "And then if nothing has turned up by then, we shall all convene together to search the North for poor Reuben."

"_Ryan_." Said Loki icily.

"Tis a fair plan." Thor began to say, "Though I think that –"

But just then, a messanger bounded into the hall, red faced and puffing, obviously having run a good deal to get there.

"Lord—huff huff—Volstagg!" The man wheezed, bending over and trying to catch his breath.

"What is it man?!" The stoutly warrior cried, alarmed by the messangers sudden appearance. "Speak!"

"I—huff—I bring fell tidings from thy wife! She made me tell you that she returned home from her mother's to find your home had been _attacked _by some foe, and your children are in a state of utter unruliness and panic because of it! She also bade me say that perhaps if thou spent more time at home and less wandering the forsaken realms with thine vagabond friends (No offence meant towards thee Lord Thor) such occurrences would not happen so frequently"

Volstagg's eyes bulged (which was saying something) and his face turned red with rage. "The fiend!"

He turned towards his companions, "My friends, I regret that I cannot join thee on this quest to find young Ryan at this time! I must away and see to my home and family at once!"

At this, the messanger's head, which had been clutched between his knees, gasping for air, shot up.

"Beg pardon my lord, but did thou say the name of Ryan?"

"Yea." Volstagg nodded.

"But my lord! Your daughter Gunnhild bade me tell you that one such oddly named child was present in thine home only moments before the attack!"

Now everyone's eyes were wide.

"Well?!" Loki cried sharply, surprising them all, "What are we waiting for?! Let's move people!"

As anxious as Steve was about his daughter, he couldn't help but smile at the Midgardian slang Loki had picked up over the years.

Soon, the group found themselves at the Volstagg homestead, which was at the moment completely overrun with squabbling, crying, and basically very loud children.

A very large and very intimidating woman stood in the doorway, a thick wooden spoon in one hand, and a scowl on her face.

"What do you call this husband?!" She ranted in rage as Volstagg, (visibly cringing), approached.

"Chaos! That is what_ I_ name it! Utter Chaos! Did I not tell thee to stay at home and mind the children whilst I left?! And now look what they negligence towards thy offspring has wrought! Our children run wild, fighting and talking of erecting barricades and battle plans, and a giant _hole _doth mark the spot where the base knave attacked our undefended home!"

At this, the large and very loud woman burst into tears, sobbing hysterically into her apron. Volstagg, in obvious discomfort, tried awkwardly to pat her on the shoulder, and was rewarded for this husbandly effort with a wrap on the knuckles with the wooden spoon.

Steve couldn't help but feel a pain of sympathy and understanding for the poor woman. How many times had he come home to find Ryan running wild while some new repair to the house was added to the growing bill?

Steve turned to Loki, to remark on this, and blinked in surprise when he saw the man was no longer standing beside him.

"Loki?" Steve called, looking around him but seeing only swarms of children.

"Here Rogers!" Loki's voice called from the side of the house. Making his way through the ocean of offspring, Steve followed the voice, and soon found himself staring at a large hole that had been smashed into the wooden wall.

"I don't like this…" Loki said softly, running his fingers along the shattered edges of the wood. "There is a feeling here of magic…"

"Do you know what kind?" Steve asked, leaning in, as if trying to see something magical about the destruction for himself.

Loki nodded, and his face darkened once again. "I believe so. And if I am right…Ryan may be in more danger then we could have imagined…"

Steve's heart dropped into his stomach.

_About Two Hours Earlier…._

Ryan turned around in a circle, craning her head as she did so she could see every part of herself in the mirror before her. "I look…_good_."

Her new acquaintances had taken back with them to their house, (despite Rolfe's vehement protests), a large dwelling that housed even _more_ children within its stately wooden walls. All of them had been eager to meet the strange new girl, and had been even more excited once they heard who she was.

"Did you really flood your entire home with the dough of chocolate filled pastries?" one asked in delight.

"Is it true you engaged in watery war-fare with the trickster Loki against the daughter of the Man of Iron?" called out another.

More and more questions filled air, until Ryan could barely make out what was being said among the clamor.

"Enough!" Hildy had finally cried, with a voice much louder than one would usually expect from one so young.

The noise instantly died down.

Hildy nodded in satisfaction, and then turned to Ryan with an embarrassed grin. "Forgive them their enthusiasm, as I said, our father, Volstagg the Valient, has told us much of you. Your exploits have become rather infamous."

Ryan blushed bright red at hearing this. She knew her parents would probably be mortified, but she was quite pleased. Infamous at only twelve and a half! Loki would be so proud when she told him!

Of course, she reasoned, since he traveled back and forth between the two worlds, he probably already know…He had probably helped to spread many of the stories himself, as he featured in so many of them.

"Is there any way we can be of service to you, Ryan Steverogersdottir?" The girl called Flosi asked, coming up to her after depositing Gudrun with the other smaller children.

Ryan thought for a moment. "Well…do any of you know a way I could get back home to Earth? Not that I wouldn't like to stick around for a while, but my dad's probably awake by now and freaking out."

Hildy looked surprised. "But, can you not return the way you came?" She asked.

"That's just it, I don't know _how_ I got here." Ryan said, quickly explaining her story to the wide-eyed youngsters. "And the next thing I knew, I woke up and you guys were there."

Hildy's eyebrows furrowed, and she turned to converse with her siblings. When she spoke again to Ryan, her voice was very serious. "This is a strange tale you tell Ryan Steverogersdottir. I do not know how you could have been carried away thus to our realm…but we do know that Heimdall oft transports Lord Thor to Midgard by means of the Bifrost. Perhaps when our father and mother return, one of them could take you to him at the royal city, and he could then transport you back to your home."

Ryan sighed with relief. "Thank you."

Hildy just nodded. "Now, is there another way we might assist you, since we cannot return you home immediatly?"

"Well…" Ryan said, looking down at her stained and torn pajamas and muddy feet. "If it's not too much trouble…do you have any spare clothes I could borrow? I kinda feel silly walking around in my pjs…"

"Of course!" Hildy replied with a grin. "Come with me, we seem to be about the same size."

Hildy had lead her up a flight of wooden stairs to a room with several sets of bunk-beds, and after picking out a pair of clothes for her, had set up a screen for her to dress behind.

Ryan was now admiring her new attire in the nearby mirror. "I look _really_ good." She repeated.

And so she did. She wore a dark blue tunic that ended just above her waist, with slightly poofy sleeves that tied at her wrists. This was covered by a white jerkin with golden leaves stitched across the edges. She'd also been given some black tights and tall boots covered in some sort of fur that had to be tied up around her legs. The affect was completed by a fishtail braid provided by Flosi, and a half- scabbard and belt where provided for her sword.

All in all, Ryan thought she looked rather striking; she'd never really been dressed in anything that didn't make her look and feel like a little girl. As she stared at her reflection, she realized for really the first time just how grown up she was beginning to look….

"And Dad thinks I'm too young to be an Avenger." She scoffed.

Just then, one of the smaller kids poked their head into room.

"Hey!" The young boy called out, "We all wanna see!"

Ryan grinned, while Hildy pointed for her brother to exit the room. He rolled his eyes, but complied.

"I uh…I guess they all want to see how good Asgard looks on me." Ryan said, not bothering to hide her own approval of just how good it looked.

"Then I suggest you do not keep them waiting." Hildry replied with a grin of her own.

Ryan walked down the stairs, and a chorus of oohs and ahhs enveloped her as she descended.

"You look like a real warrior!" One of the girls called out, clapping her hands with glee. "Just like Lady Sif!"

Ryan blushed and beamed at the same time. Many compliments of same nature came from the rest of the children. Only Rolfe remained silent, sulking silently in a dark corner in the back of the room.

"Oh don't be so taciturn Rolfe!" Alaric hissed to his brother as he joined him in the corner. "You should show some respect for Lady Ryan, she is our guest."

Rolfe huffed, "She's no lady! She's only a_ girl_, like Hildy."

Alaric laughed at this, "If she's anything like Hildy, you'd best not let her hear you belittle her so. Was it not just last week that Hildy turned you on your head for teasing her about having an affection for Hogun the Grim?"

Rolfe winced at the memory, but continued his criticism. "She may be our guest, but she is still a conspirator of Loki the traitor, and I still say no good will come of harboring her. Mark my words brother, _mischief _will come of this, it always does when that trickster is involved."

Alaric rolled his eyes at his younger brother's predictions of doom. "My brother, you are far too—"

But whatever Rolfe was 'far too' of was suddenly cut off by the interruption of a _huge man_ with an _axe _bursting through the wall of the house with the force of a wrecking ball!

Shards of wood exploded across the room, as did cries of fear and panic from the children. The man paid them no heed, instead his dark, beady eyes scanned the room, as if searching for something. His eyes fell on Ryan, standing frozen with shock on the stairs, and a wide wicked grin split across his ugly face.

He reached out a hand for her…

And suddenly drew it back with a howl of pain as one of the children leapt upon him from the landing above, sinking their teeth into his wrist.

Encouraged by their siblings bravery, the children of Volstagg the Valient, (always eager for a fight) surged forward upon the intruder; hitting him with their fists and kicking him with their legs and in Flosi's case whacking at him with a large and bristly kitchen broom.

Ryan, not one to leave the fighting to others, began to draw her sword from its scabbard, and then stopped.

The man was covered from head to foot in children, all of them bobbing and ducking about to avoid his flailing fists and axe. What if the sword was to shoot out ice again and she hit one of her new friends? It was too great a risk… But she couldn't leave them to fight alone!

She re-sheathed her sword, and hurled herself bodily upon the axe-man, howling an Asgardian war cry that Thor had once demonstrated for her on one of his rare visits.

However, just at that moment the man had gained the upper hand in the struggle and with a mighty swing of his arms had flung the torrent of attack children off of him. So it was that Ryan landed _alone_ on the man's freakishly muscled chest, and was instantly in his clutches.

Before she could do so much as even cry out, the man lifted is huge axe high into the air…!

And suddenly, both he and Ryan were _gone_! Vanished as if they'd never been there at all, with only the gaping hole in the wall and the bruise on the children to prove any of it had ever happened!

A long, stunned silence filled the house, only to be broken by the shrill voice of Rolfe crying out:

"I told you so!"

_Somewhere in a darker part of Asgard…_

Ryan gasped for air as her body rematerialized. The instant she could feel her limbs again, she began kicking and punching at the hulking man as best she could, (which really wasn't very much at all).

"Let me _go _you big creep!" She screamed as the man began to stride forward down the long, dark hall into which they'd reappeared.

"Do you know who I am?! I'm Ryan Peggy Rogers! My father is _Captain America_! He's the _leader _of the _Avengers_! (No matter _what_ Ria says about _her _dad being the leader) He's fought bigger and _uglier_ guys then you, and he's gonna—"

But her words were cut off as the giant man suddenly dumped her unceremoniously to the ground.

Ryan rubbed at her hip where it had connected with the marble floor, and was about to continue her tirade, when a voice from behind her broke through the darkness.

"Well met, Ryan Rogers… long have I anticipated the pleasure of making your acquaintance…"

Surprised by the voice, Ryan turned around.

Standing before her, clad in entirely in green (though less clad then Ryan's mother would have ever deemed appropriate), with long golden tresses shimmering down her back, was the most _beautiful_ woman Ryan had _ever_ seen. Suddenly, her limbs felt limp, and her tongue seemed to shrivel up inside her, along with all her angry words. She had been literally _stunned_ at the sight of the woman.

The woman smiled, and bent forward, offering Ryan her hand. Ryan hesitated, and then took it, though not unwarily. The woman's smile broadened and she lifted Ryan gracefully to her feet. Then, she wrapped an arm around the bewildered girl, just as if she were an old friend, an aunt, or a even a mother.

"I hope you'll excuse Skurge's poor behavior." The woman said as she began leading Ryan down the darkened corridor, away from the gigantic axe-man, who was now standing as still as a statue behind them. "I'm afraid he can get a little…_overzealous_ sometimes."

"Who-Who are you?" Ryan was finally able to make herself ask.

The woman raised one perfect eyebrow, the corner of her perfect lip following along. "Why, has neither Loki nor Thor never mentioned to thee their dear old friend, Amora the Enchantress?"

**Bum Bum Bum! Well, things **_**are**_** shaping up! I hope you're all enjoying the twists of this story! Please feel free to review, and please keep reading, because some big things are coming up in the next couple of chapters!**


	9. Chapter 9 : Voyage into Vagueness Part 5

**I own nothing. But I hope you like it just the same!**

"Who's Amora the Enchantress?" Steve asked, confused.

"She is an old foe of my brother's…" Loki explained, continuing his explanation of who had been responsible for the attack on Volstagg's home, and Ryan's abduction. "A sorceress of great power and cunning, not to mention beauty. She uses both her charms and her witchcraft to great effect, especially on men. The berserker Skurge is her particular puppet. If she is behind this, it's no wonder that Odin could not see Ryan. Amora is one of the most powerful weilders of magic on Asgard, and her desire to create chaos for its inhabitants is almost as great as—"

"Your own?" Steve quipped.

Loki simply rolled his eyes at the man. "I was _going_ to say, almost as great as her desire to gain Thor's affections. Which she has blessedly failed in so far…"

Steve raised an eye at this remark. "Why's that? I mean besides the fact she sounds like bad news, she seems like she'd be just your kind of sister in law."

Loki scoffed. "The Enchantress has no love for me…not after certain occurrences…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Steve asked curiously.

"Nothing. It's old news." Loki coughed, and swiftly turned back to examining the destruction left by Skurge.

"You had a thing, didn't you?" Steve asked.

"_No!" _Loki exclamind, his pale cheeks turning the faintest shade of pink. "I told you, her interests lie purely in gaining Thor "

Steve grinned at the protest. "Sure Loki, sure…" Then his expression became serious once more. "But, if this Enchantress is so set on Thor…what could she possibly want with Ryan?"

Loki was silent for a moment, then- "I don't know…but it can't be anything good. Come." He said, straightening. "We must set out at once for Amora's lair."

He reached over, and gripped Steve by the arm. Surprised by this gesture, Steve began to pull away, but Loki tightened his grip. "We must get there as quickly as we can Rogers."

"Well…ok then, let's get Thor and the-"

"No." Loki said firmly. "My magic may be able to mask you, but there's no way that I can transport _all _those _buffoons_ to her fortress unnoticed." His eyes turned to glance at Volstagg, who was being subjected to another tirade from his immense wife.

"No, it's best we leave now, unaccompanied."

"What a minute, what are you going to-" But Steve's words were cut off as for the second time that day he felt the atoms of his body being scattered and shifted by magic.

"What ho?" Fandral asked only a second later, looking around Volstagg's house in confusion. "Where'd Loki and Rogers pop off too?"

_Some time earlier, at the Fortress of Amora the Enchantress…._

"So your dear 'Uncle' has never mentioned me, has he?" Amora asked again, smilingly benignly down at Ryan.

Ryan shuddered a little, as lovely as this woman was, there was something about her that gave her chills. "Uh, no…can't say he has."

"Hmm," Amora said with a nod, "Can't say I'm surprised. Loki has always been one to keep…_unpleasant_ topics close to the chest." She glanced down at Ryan, "But of course…you knew."

Ryan looked up, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Why, my dear!" Amora said with a laugh, letting go of Ryan's shoulder so that she could walk up the steps that had suddenly appeared in front of them. Seating herself on a large throne at the top, she continued. "Surely _you_ of all people would be privy to Loki's secrets?! His past for example? Or perhaps you've not been told?"

"I've been told!" Ryan shot back, glaring up at Amora from the bottom of the steps. She thought she knew now what the woman was getting on about. "I know all about the Frost Giants and the Chitauri and what happened!"

She placed her hands on her hips, adopting the stance she used when imitating her father giving commands. "And I also know that's he's changed and made up for it! So you and everybody else can stop bringing it up!"

There was silence for a moment, and Ryan felt pleased that she'd managed to shut Amora up. But then she heard a strange sound. She couldn't place it at first, because it was so quiet, but then it began to get louder and louder, and then she knew what it was.

Amora was laughing! It started as a chuckle and ended up as wild, almost frightening screams of delight.

"Oh! Oh! This is too _precious_!" The sorceress squealed, shaking her head and wiping away a tear. "The Midgardian child thinks to protect the _honor_ of her '_hero_'! _Hahahahaha_!"

Ryan's scowl deepened, and she unconsciously gripped the hilt of her sword. "Stop it." She said, her voice quiet and low, but deadly serious.

To her surprise, Amora did stop, but that maddening smirk remained. "Oh child, do you truly think you know _everything_? Who's told you the story anyhow? Your_ father_? With his heart so soft and moved by pity that he let a wolf in the door one night to cradle his lamb? Or perhaps the Trickster himself? You do know he's called _Liesmith_ for a reason, don't you?"

Amora leaned forward, her eyes twinkling with mirth and malice. "Tell me, Ryan Peggy Rogers… did they tell you about how Loki slew his birth-father with his _own hands _in order to gain Odin's _love_? How he tried to do the same to _Thor_, just because he got in his way?"

Ryan felt herself shaking, but she simply gripped the hilt harder, and nodded. "I knew that…but…but Laufey was a bad guy anyway, he left Loki to die as baby! And Thor and Loki have made up since then!"

"They've made up since then." Amora repeated, mockingly. "Perhaps they have. Thor being the blind and trusting fool that he is. And perhaps Laufey _did_ deserve his fate…But tell me this, did _all_ the Frost Giants deserve such? After all, it was not only his sire but his _people_ as well that Loki sought to destroy that day. Can you, with your dear parents' ideals floating around in your heart and head truly give me _any_ justification for Loki's actions towards Jotunheim?"

Ryan opened her mouth automatically, ready to offer some answer…and after a moment shut it again.

"No?" Amora asked, sarcastic surprise in her voice.

Ryan scowled. "He was heartbroken over being lied too! He wasn't thinking straight then!

"Well, then I suppose he was still in such an intense state of emotional shock two years later when he beamed down to and _blew up _SHEILD headquarters? An act which amounted to…oh how many was it…about _eighty_ casualties? Not to mention severely physiologically _scarring _the father of one of your friends, I think he still has nightmares sometimes doesn't he?"

Amora's tone was light, conversational even. And it was making Ryan's blood boil even as her words were freezing her heart. Couler _was_ never allowed to play at her house, not that that stopped him from sneaking over but…still…

"Oh, and I forgot about that poor man in Germany who lost his eye. I think they said he ended up _dying _from shock and _blood loss_-"

"Shut up." Ryan hissed. Her entire body was shaking now, as she tried to wipe the mental images from her head.

"Not to mention all those poor people_ killed_ in the attack on New York when the Chitauri showed up. Oh, and of course one mustn't forget dear _Phil Coulson_, who died so that the Avengers might be. Never even getting to have his greatest hero sign his cards…Yes, one really must admire your father's ability to forgive someone who _killed in cold blood_ the person who might have been his greatest friend had he lived. I believe he snuck up from behind and _skewered_ him just before dropping Thor-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Ryan was shaking so much that she could hardly stand. Her mind was a mess of thoughts and feelings that she wasn't sure what to do with anymore. She was distantly aware that she had pulled out her sword and was pointing it straight at Amora; and she felt a sort of vague hope that it would repeat it's icy attack once more and silence this horrible woman for good.

Amora simply smirked at the wooden weapon. "Oh by all means dear, if it displeases you so much to hear you've been playing house with a mass murderer all these years, blast away..."

She waved her hand nonchalantly, as though happy to accept the blow.

"Or." She said suddenly, as if the thought had just occurred to her. "You could _not_ send me to an icy prison, and I could tell you exactly why and brought you here to Asgard, and why your sword happens to be acting the way it has."

Ryan blinked, surprised by the woman's confession. "Y-_you_ brought me here? _Why_?! And how do you know about my sword?!"

"I know many things about you my dear, more than you do yourself. I've been keeping an eye on you for quite some time, ever since Loki began taking an interest in you in fact. Now…"

Amora leaned forward, her face and tone for the first time serious. "I have told you only the truth so far, more than others have been willing to tell you. Will you trust me now that what I tell you about this sword and yourself is the truth?"

Ryan hesitated. This woman had kidnapped her from her home, attacked her new friends with some crazy axe waving lunatic and then brought her here to this very dark and frightening place, before attacking her verbally with unwanted information about someone she deeply loved….

But…

"Tell me…tell me first why you brought me here?" Ryan asked slowly, never letting her grip on her sword waver.

"Why, to meet you of course, to see what sort of mortal could possibly be the means of taming such a savage and murderous creature as Loki… and to warn you of his intents."

"What intents?" Asked Ryan with surprise, lowering her sword just a bit so that she could better face the woman above her. "What do you mean?"

"The reason your sword has begun to exhibit such unique qualities." Amora said slowly, as if explaining something that Ryan should already know. "You have come of age this year, by Asgardian standards, and so it begins to unlock the latent power inside you."

Ryan raised an eyebrow, and lowered her sword a bit more. "Wait- 'power _inside_ me'? Are you saying that-"

"This ice does not come from the sword itself, but from you, Ryan Peggy Rogers. It pulls its strength, its _power_ from the storm that even now stirs inside of you! Have you not felt it?"

And Ryan had to admit to herself that she _had_ felt it. Felt that tug inside her when the ice escaped from the sword. A swelling and release of energy that made her feel…well, stronger, and _older_, and…_powerful_. It frightened her…and thrilled her as the same time. But…

"But how could_ I_ make _ice_?" Ryan asked, a crazed sort of chuckle creeping into her voice, as if the idea was just too absolutely ridiculous to even think about.

"I don't have any superpowers! My dad's serum doesn't affect his DNA! And my mom was a _waitress_ for heaven's sake! I mean I haven't been bitten by any radioactive bugs or hit with cosmic rays, or any rays really, though my mom always tells me not to stay out in the sun to long because of the ultra-violet ones-"

She was babbling now. She knew it, but she couldn't seem to stop! She had to get all of the panic welling up inside her out before she exploded.

"And you know they tested me for the X-gene when I was a kid and it turned up negative and as far as I know I've never been around anysort of toxic waste though Ria said she had a jar of it once but it really turned out to be full of snakes. Not real one's you know just those springing kind that leap out at you when you open the lid and-"

Amora raised a hand, and Ryan suddenly felt her lips lock together.

"The reason," Amora said leisurely, as if she had all the time in the world to tell this and telling it now bored her, "That you have the power to create ice, and I dare say much more then that if you had some training… is that the night Loki entered your house and saw you for the first time…he performed an ancient rite, a rite that_ bound_ you to him in more than name, but also in _essence_. He made you an Asgardian in a way, as surely as I am. It is because of this that you have begun to show such command over frost, for now the power of Loki Laufeyson, and all the powers granted him by his birth flows in your veins as indisputably as blood. It is part of your heritage, as much as that which you gained from your birth father."

Ryan had dropped her sword by now, and was staring blankly at her trembling hands._ She _was an _Asgardian. _She had_ MAGIC. _She was…was…

"Did you say birth-father?" She asked, glancing up at Amora.

The woman nodded. "The rite Lok inacted might be deemed akin to what you on Midgard call an…adoption? Odin performed a similar rite when he took Loki in as a child, it is why he is able to keep the form of an Aesir whenever he chooses. Though he has not publically claimed you, all versed in the art of magic may see the mark of his parentage upon you…Ryan Lokisdottir."

_Ryan Lokisdottir_.

She thought back to all those times he'd teased her parents about taking her away and making her his ice princess. She'd often wondered why he hadn't followed up on that.

"It's because he didn't have to…" Ryan thought numbly to herself. "He'd already done it."

_Lokisdottir_. Daughter of Loki. Daughter of the Trickster, the lord of Mischeif…the Liesmith…the Traitor…the Murderer…

"Why?" She whispered, more to herself then to Amora. "Why would he do that?"

"Why does Loki ever do anything? For some scheming purpose of his own no doubt. Perhaps he wished to use you as leverage, or even an _ally _in some future endeavor against Thor and his companions."

Amora's tone was consoling, comforting even. Ryan felt her place a hand on her shoulder.

"What a terrible thing to do to a little girl he claimed to love."

Ryan blinked. _Claimed_ to love…. _Claimed?!_

"_NO!"_

She whirled away from Amora, eyes blazing with fury. "He doesn't _claim_ to love me! He_ does_ love me! Yes, he did horrible, aweful, _evil_ things in the past! But he _has_ changed! He's tried so hard these past few years to make amends to everyone he's hurt! I've_ seen_ him do it! He knows he can't ever make up for some things, but he does _try_! And he loves me! He does!"

Amora scoffed at this claim. "If he loves you so much, why would he lie to you?"

"He's _never_ lied to me!" Ryan cried, standing up so that she could glare down at the woman. "He's always told me the absolute truth about everything I've ever asked him! And if he's ever not felt comfortable telling me, he's promised to tell me when I'm _older_, and he's _kept_ that promise too!"

A slightly crazed smile shot across her face as she remembered her five year old self asking Loki where babies had come from, and his frantic attempts to change the subject.

"If he didn't love me, if he was only faking, would he always be so willing to spend time with me? To go along with my crazy ideas and stupid schemes even when he knows they'll get him in trouble? Would he always be there for my birthday or Christmas or Zucchini Day (which I know he made up just so he could have an excuse to hang out with me more) or just any old regular day?"

Ryan was gaining strength now, remembering all times that Loki had been there for her, all the memories they'd shared and crazy things they'd done together that'd gotten them both into all sorts of trouble.

"If he didn't love me, would he care about all the times I've gotten hurt doing something dumb? Even if it was just a scraped knee? Would he have shown up for my school play, (breaking his probation by the wa) even when my dad had to miss it because he was saving the world from crazy planet-eating aliens and everybody_ else_ had stayed home from school, even the _teachers_, because they were too scared to come out of doors? Would he have—"

"Scilence!" Amora cried, her control slipping for the first time. "Miserable girl! I try to warn you of his true nature, and you _still _defend him?!"

Amora's eyes flashed, and not simply with anger. Ryan had been around Loki enough to tell when a spell was about to be cast, (and perhaps this was another sign of her own powers?)

"I will have my vengeance upon Loki for preventing my conquest of his brother one way or another! If I cannot do so by turning his daughter _against_ him; I shall do so by _tearing_ _out_ your _heart _and _sending _it to him on a silver platter!"

A violently verdant bolt of energy shot from Amora's fingertips and towards Ryan. Luckily, years of playing dodge ball with a heavily competitive Ria had sharpened Ryan's dodging skills to perfection, and she easily leapt out of range.

Amora continued to strike out at Ryan, who continued to slip aside just in time; eerily mirroring her 'dance' with the wolf in the woods the day earlier.

The memory of that fight suddenly gave Ryan an idea. Her sword lay just a few feet away, if she could just reach it-

But Amora seemed to guess her thoughts, and while continuing to zap at Ryan with her right hand, she used her left to shoot the weapon out of range.

"I think not dear!" The Enchantress cackled, as Ryan lept again, only to find herself blocked by a stone wall. Amora grinned like a tiger who had finally managed to corner a particularly troublesome bit of prey.

She aimed a single glowing finger at Ryan's frantically beating heart.

"Any last words for dear Loki my pet? Come come, I'd hate to have to tell him you died quivering like a frightened little mouse in a corner!"

Ryan glared up at the witch, fear and hatred and anger boiling inside of her. How _dare_ she! How dare she kidnap her and try to manipulate her and then threaten her family with her death?!

Ryan thought of her father, the invincible Captain America who'd refused to bow down to anyone. She thought of her mother, who, though possessing no powers of her own, had never failed to stand courageously alongside her father whenever they're home had been threatened. She thought of all the Avengers, her uncles and aunts who'd been through so much already and yet never backed down from a fight. She thought of her friends who'd stood beside her in the tunnels under New York that winter, outnumbered hundred to one and yet undaunted. And she thought of her Uncle Loki, who really had been trying so hard to fix his mistakes and become the person that sometimes only she'd been privileged to see…who'd loved her so much he'd wanted to make her his daughter….

She thought of all these people she would never see again…She said a silent prayer to God to watch over all of them… and she stood.

"Well?" Amora asked, cocking an eyebrow impatiently. "Anything to say?"

"Yes." Ryan said with more confidence then she felt.

"…_And_?!"

Amora's patience was clearly at its end; and Ryan's brain whirled wildly for anything that could serve as a valiant last stand against evil.

"You—You've _failed _your highness!" She blurted out, surprising Amora and herself with her exclamation.

"I'll _never_ turn to the Dark Side! I am an Avenger! Like my—_Father_?!"

Confused by Ryan's sudden tonal change, Amora turned to see what the girl was looking at –

And instantly came face to vibranium with Steve's shield!

There was a very loud clang, a soft moan, and then Amora the Enchantres crumpled to the ground, a large goose-egg forming on her usually flawless brow.

"Usually I don't hold with hitting ladies," Steve said, glaring down at the stunned woman. "But you're not much of a _lady_ as it is, so I'll make an exception."

Then his gaze turned to Ryan, and he beamed more brightly then he had since he'd gotten married to her mother.

"Dad!" Ryan exclaimed, jumping over the Enchantress's fallen form and into her father's outstretched arms.

"Oh Ryan!" Steve whispered, stroking her hair and pulling her into an even tighter hug. "Are you alright baby?"

"I'm fine Dad! Really I am! Oh Dad don't cry!" Ryan reached up and pulled off her father's mask so she could brush away his tears. "I'm alright, really!"

"I j-I just..." But try as he might, Steve Rogers was far to relieved at finding his daughter alive and whole to express it in words.

Ryan, feeling an equal amount of relief and love, just nodded, and hugged her father tighter.

Just then Loki, looking extremely pleased with himself, wandered around the corner. "Well I don't think that Skurge will be breaking through anymore walls anytime soon! In fact he'll be lucky if Amora's able to thaw him out before next Jul—Good heaven's Rogers! What did you do to her?! Smash her with Mjolnir?!"

**Wow! I can't believe this story arcs almost done! This was a hard chapter to write for me , since most of this story has been so light hearted and then it went and got rather dark in this I hope you're enjoying it because there's still one more chapter to go! Please review if you like it!**


	10. Chapter 10: Voyage into Vagueness Part 6

**I own nothing. Not Avengers, not Mythology, not even Reese's Pieces.**

Ryan picked up her sword, dusting it off tenderly as she did so.

She looked, over at where her father and Loki stood, discussing what was to be done with the unconscious Enchantress.

Loki was all for trussing her up, tossing her into a portal and making her Jotunheim's problem.

Her father appeared tempted by the idea, but in the end decided that they should probably just hand her over to the Einherjar guards back in the Capital.

"Oh for heaven's sake Rogers, can't you be unchivalrous for _once_?! She _kidnapped_ your daughter and tried to blast her with a one way ticket to Valhalla! I say a good Frost Giant trampling is just what she deserves!"

"We have to give her a _trial_ before we do any sort of sentencing Loki! That's just how it's done!"

"Ugh! Haven't you learned yet that if you put the villain in prison they just vow vengeance and escape to do more damage?! I mean look at _me_!"

Ryan shook her head as the two argued. Something's never changed.

Then her eyes turned to Amora, still lying insensible at the feet of the bickering men.

Ryan shivered a little as she looked at the woman, never before had she come so close to death… She could still feel her heart pounding inside her chest like Thor's hammer.

As her eyes flicked up to her father and uncle again, she thought about what Amora had said, about Loki being her…sort of father…

Was it true? Did he really adopt her as his daughter?

She looked at her sword, and could see frost creeping up the blade, starting from underneath her fingertips…

"Oh boy…" She whispered, "Dad is not going to be happy about this…"

"Ryan!" Steve called out just then, breaking into her thoughts. "Come on honey, let's go!"

"Coming!" She quickly wiped the frost from the blade with her sleeve, before running over to where a very put out Loki was using his magic to lift the limp body of Amora from the ground.

"Mark my words, she'll bat her eyelids at the entire court and be back to wrecking havoc in a week!"

"Less grumbling, more floating soldier!"

Steve turned from issuing commands to smile at his daughter, "Ready to go home Sweetie?"

Ryan gave a long, relieved sigh at the word. As much as she had wanted an adventure when this all began, _home_ had never sounded so good.

She reached up, surprising Steve by taking his hand in hers, something she hadn't done since she had started going to Middle School.

"Yeah Dad, I'm ready."

"Well let's get a move on then!" Loki called, hefting Amora above his head. "I can't use my transport spell inside of Amora's fortress remember? We'll have to head outside if you want to hand her off to those moronic guards anytime soon!"

Ryan just smiled at the man's complaints, and reached out with her free hand to take his.

"Come on Uncle Loki, let's get one storm cloud out of the way before another breaks out."

Loki raised an eyebrow at this remark, but then he smiled and squeezed her hand, "As you wish my Princess."

Ryan felt her heart give a flutter at this remark, now knowing its full connotation, but she smiled back.

And so, hand in hand, with the Enchantress floating above them, the trio walked down the darkened hallway, past the frozen Skurge and out into the mottled sunshine of an Asgardian forest—

Where they promptly came face to face with a huge, scaly, antlered creature with extremely sharp fangs.

"Loki…" Steve asked, staring up at the creature. "What is that thing?"

"_Bilgesnipe_." Loki said, staring at the creature in shock. (In fact he was so surprised that he lost his concentration on the flotation spell and let the Enchantress thud to the ground).

"But I don't know what one's doing here; they don't live this far South..." Suddenly, his eyes widened in dismay, "Unless that little excursion last year with Thor…where one of my spells went out of control altered the climate enough to force one down…"

Steve let go of Ryan's hand with a groan, reaching up to lift his shield from his back. "Why is it always _your_ fault?"

"Hey! It wasn't my fault the Ryan got kidnapped was it?!"

Ryan, feeling now was not the time to reveal that in a way it was, wisely kept her mouth shut.

Steve glared at Loki, who just shrugged and conjured up his spear.

"Don't worry Dad," Ryan said with a grin, lifting her sword as the beast began rushing them.

"I've handled worse!"

_One Week Later…_

Well, they won.

Of course they did.

They really couldn't _fail _to win, not with Captain America's strength, Loki's cunning and magic, and Ryan's magical sword flinging frost everywhere.

And also Thor and the Warriors Three happened to show up at just the right moment…

(Along with a host of Einherjar, brought just in case Amora had proved to be too big of a handful).

In the end, they managed to get Amora to prison, and Loki and the Rogers home on time to greet Mrs. Rogers, who was both pleased and amazed that the house was still standing, so much so that she almost didn't notice all their scrapes and bruises…

Almost.

Well, eventually they had to tell her what happened, and of course she was very upset about it all, as was Steve after Ryan reveled that the battle with the Bilgesnipe had not been the first time her sword had displayed such magical qualities.

That had led to Loki getting the Third Degree from Mrs. Rogers about giving her daughter a sword that could have accidently turned her daughter, herself or her husband into a popsicle—

Which had led to Loki confessing that it wasn't exactly the _sword_ that was producing the ice…

Which had led to other confessions…

Which had led to Steve blowing his top, and only the intervention of Mrs. Rogers and Ryan (and Thor who'd come to check in on them) had prevented the man from committing regicide.

Steve had raged about Loki lying to them for twelve years and then about his selfishness putting his daughter in danger and that if he had _really_ loved Ryan then he would never have messed with her magically or done anything to have put her in such a position.

Ryan had screamed about it not being Loki's fault and that it wasn't like he'd ever tried to take Steve's place as her father and he _had_ helped to rescue her after all.

Mrs. Rogers had taken Thor aside and told him that it was probably best for everyone if he just took Loki home for a few days.

Loki had said nothing.

And he hadn't come back to the Rogers home since…

All the Avengers showed up at the Rogers home to offer solace and reiterate everything they'd ever said about how Loki should never have been allowed around their kids.

"I told you man! He totally was going to turn her into Mini-Loki! You're lucky you caught it in time!" Tony had said, patting Steve on the back consolingly.

"Yeah…I guess…" Steve mumbled, looking out into the backyard where Ryan sat in her tree-castle, knees pulled to her chest and eyes to the sky.

She had been uncommonly quiet that week, and every day that had passed without Loki turning up she'd seemed to pale and shrink a little bit more into herself.

"So…He's really gone?" Ria asked, obviously having refused to believe her father until she heard it from Ryan herself.

"Looks like it."

"But-but how are we supposed to fill out our summer inventory?! Frank and I have had the trip to the Blue Side of the Moon planned for months! We can't do that without Loki! My _Dad _will never let us go! Well… he might, but my _Mom'll_ see to that he _doesn't." _Ria finished with a scowl.

Upon hearing this, Jaya looked noticeably relieved.

"But I was just about to finally get my parents to let me come over here while he was around!" Couler complained, "You know, as long as he was thoroughly sedated."

"I just don't get what the big deal is!" Ria exclaimed. "I mean, the guy wasn't one of my favorite people, but he wasn't a _bad dude_…as bad dude's go. I mean he hasn't tried to take over the world in years! It's not his fault that that crazy lady kidnapped you!"

"That's what I said." Ryan agreed without much passion.

"It's probably not really so much about Loki himself, but about the danger he could put you in…" Jaya added quietly. "The same sort of fuss happened with Fury back when my Dad wanted to adopt me."

"Which was absolutely ridiculous!" Ria scoffed, "I mean, it's been years and Uncle Bruce has never had an episode around you once!"

"Well, except for that one time that we snuck out into the city to watch the Avengers fight the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants."

"Oh, they weren't even close to us! And anyway, it's not like any of us have ever been hurt by any of _Loki's_ escapades either!"

"Well…" Jaya began, but Ria cut her off before she could bring up the infamous and unfortunate "Noodle Incident".

"That was nothing! Besides, my arm healed, and Couler sees almost perfectly out of that eye!" She finished as Couler took a shot in the with his practice bow, missing his target by several inches and deflating the left front tire of Tony's new sports car.

"Look, can we just stop talking about it?" Ryan mumbled into her knees. "He's gone and he's not coming back. It's _over_."

"It's the end of an era…" Couler said gravely, readjusting his bow.

Ria smacked him upside the head, and sent another arrow into the left _back_ tire of her father's car.

That Saturday night, Ryan lay in her bed, and looked out at the star she now knew to be Asgard.

"I wish I'd never wished on that stupid star…" She muttered, "I wish none of this had ever happened!"

She rolled over onto her stomach and with a muffled sob into her pillow she wished:

"I wish Loki was here right now!"

"Well, it sure took you long enough."

Ryan head shot up from her pillow like a rocket. Quickly, she wiped away the tears that where clouding her vision—

And then sprang from the bed into the man's waiting arms.

"Uncle Loki! You came back!" She cried, gripping onto him like a life buoy and sobbing into his chest, thus damaging his Chinese silk shirt for all time.

"Shush…Yes Princess, I'm back…"

"Why did you go away for so long?! I thought you weren't ever coming back!"

Loki sighed, and pulled her closer to him. "I…I only came back to…say goodbye."

Ryan's eyes widened in horror. "Goodbye?! W-whattya mean '_goodbye_'?!"

"Your parents…_my_ parents…everyone is right. I put you in serious danger by adopting you as my daughter. I've made a lot of enemies in my life and it's not like I've ever bothered to create a secret identity like the others to protect you…"

"I don't mind! I'm glad you did it! Anybody would be proud to be your daughter!"

Loki shook his head. "No, they wouldn't. Amora was right about a lot of the things I've done. I'm nothing to be proud of Ryan. My lying to your parents all these years, even if it was just a lie of omission proves that I still have a long way to go to prove myself trustworthy. If I had really changed as much as I wanted everyone to believe, as much as _I _wanted to believe, I would have told them about the spell years ago…"

"I don't care! Why do you have to _go_?"

He let go of Ryan so that he could look into her watering eyes. "Ryan Peggy Rogers, I love you _so_ much! _That's_ why I have to go. Because when you love someone as much as I love you, you have to think about what's best for _them_…even if it hurts you to do it…Do you understand?"

Ryan nodded slowly. "Y-yes." She hiccupped.

Loki pulled her close again, stroking her hair. "You are my greatest treasure Ryan. I was so lost when I found you that I didn't think I could _ever_ be found again. But you found me, you _saved_ me. The day I met you was the happiest day of my life, and every day since then has only added to that happiness. And I will _never_ forget you my love."

Ryan sobbed even harder, and then pulled away so that _she_ could look into _his _eyes. "I'll never forget you either. And when I'm grown up and an Avenger, I'll find you! Even if I have to have Ria build a portal or a rocket ship or something! I promise!"

"I don't think having Ria break the barriers of time and space will be necessary."

Loki and Ryan's heads whirled around to see the Rogers framed in the doorway of Ryan's room.

"We've talked it over." Mrs. Rogers said, walking forward, "And we've agreed."

"Agreed on…what?" Ryan asked, looking up at her parent's skeptically.

"That we all need to be willing to give someone a second chance." Her mother finished with a smile in Loki's direction.

"Or you, a _twelth_." Steve said with a slight smirk.

"Y-you mean…I can _stay_?" Loki asked in a hushed voice, obviously waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Mrs. Rogers nodded. "You can stay."

Then her smile quirked mischievously. "Besides…I don't know if I could get used to peace and quiet again after all these years. "

Loki leapt to his feet, still holding Ryan fast by one arm and embraced the surprised woman in a bone crushing hug. Then he released her and began to furiously pump Steve's hand.

"But I hope you've learned a lesson from all this Loki." Steve chided as his arm continued to rise and fall with Loki's excitement.

"Oh I learned it! I learned it whatever it is!"

Then his trademark smirk made its appearance. "But let's be honest Rogers, your feelings of moral duty weren't the only reasons you're letting me stay. Admit it, you'd _miss_ me. You all would."

Steve rolled his eyes, "Well, we certainly wouldn't miss coming home to find our home and neighborhood in utter chaos with several lawsuits on our hands."

"Yes, those have to stop." Mrs. Rogers added firmly. Then she smiled again. "But…yes, we'd miss you."

Loki's grin broadened. "And you Rogers? Won't Mr. Stark blow a gasket over you letting me stay?"

Now it was Steve's turn to smirk. "Tony can blow as many gaskets as he likes. It's my house I'm putting on the line after all…But I do have to get you to sign this waiver saying that you'll stay at least fifty feet away from him and all his inventions at all times, especially in places with large amounts of windows."

Loki laughed out loud at this, and soon everyone was laughing along. (They really couldn't help it, his laugh was literally infectious).

"So," Mrs. Rogers managed to finally say, holding onto a stitch in her side. "Since we're all up anyway, what you say we make some of my famous Reese's Pieces Pancakes to celebrate?"

This statement was met with a chorus of cheers, and the whole family began to troop down the stairs, Ryan carried triumphantly aloft on Loki's shoulders.

"Let me know if you need any help Beth!" Loki called towards the kitchen as Mrs. Rogers began preparing the batter.

"Not on your life Loki." Steve cut in, placing a hand on the man's shoulder and steering him away from the kitchen.

"Ah Rogers, just a little! I promise I won't get distracted this time!"

"Yeah Dad! Let him help!"

"No."

"_Please?"_

"_No._"

"Pretty_ Pretty _Please?!"

"**NO**! And for Pete's sake Loki act your age! What self respecting adult says '_Pretty Please'_?!"

**The End**

**Wow! I can't believe it's over! I've had so much fun writing this, and I've been so amazed and touched by how many of you have chosen to Review and Follow me and my story! I hope that you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Sadly, all stories must end, and as much fun as "Uncle Loki" has been, I really feel like moving on and trying new things, as well as finishing old ones. Thank you all again so much, and I promise that if a plot bunny for this story ever enters my head and just will not go away, I'll write it for you! God Bless You All **

** .**


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